N. Korea will face 'repercussions' if it provides weapons to Russia: Kirby

North Korea will face repercussions from the United States and other countries should it provide weapons to Russia that can kill innocent people in Ukraine, a White House official said Wednesday.

John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, also called on North Korea to stop its negotiations with Russia for a potential arms deal.

"We are not seeing them provide any wholesale assistance to the Russian military, and we continue to urge North Korea not to do that," the NSC official said when asked if the North has already provided a significant amount of weapons to Russia.

"We have not seen the DPRK provide major munitions to the Russian military. We have seen them provide some rockets and artillery ammunition to the Wagner Group. This was months ago," he added in a press briefing at the Washington Foreign Press Center.

DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name. The country was earlier said to have provided artillery shells to Wagner, a Russian paramilitary group, in late 2022.

The remark by Kirby comes one day after National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan warned that Pyongyang will "pay a price" in the international community should it provide weapons to Russia.

"I would remind you that just a couple of weeks ago, the treasury department issued sanctions against three entities that were directly involved in trying to broker this particular arms deal," Kirby told the press briefing.

The US has hinted at the possibility of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un traveling to Russia in the near future for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on a potential arms deal, citing what it called "information" that Kim has expectations for high-level or leader-level engagement with Russia.

The reports about a potential arms deal between North Korea and Russia followed Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's trip to Pyongyang in late July. US officials said earlier that Shoigu's visit had been followed by a trip of some 20 Russian officials to the North Korean capital, indicating what they called "active" negotiations between the two countries for an arms deal.

Kirby said the US has not had any direct communication with North Korea on the issue, but that it will not shy away from calling out any illicit arms deal between Pyongyang and Moscow.

"Again, we urge Pyongyang not to get involved in military transfers with Russia and not to get themselves involved in a war ... which continues at Russia's hand to kill innocent Ukrainians," said Kirby.

He said the US was not currently engaged in any active dialogue with its key allies on the issue because "there has been no deal consummated between Pyongyang and Moscow with respect to arms."

The US, still, "takes our treaty commitments very, very seriously to both Japan and South Korea," he added.

When asked why North Korea would engage in such an arms deal with Russia, the NSC coordinator noted the country must be seeking to benefit from such a deal.

"One could presume, one must presume that Pyongyang would benefit," he said.

"It's not clear to us exactly what benefits Mr. Kim was looking for. Could it be food or could it be advanced arms and technology from Russia. We just don't know," he added, referring to the North Korean leader. (Yonhap)