CREDIT: MGNWASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. defense secretary says there’s evidence that North Korea has sent troops to Russia and calls it a “very, very serious issue” if they join the war in Ukraine on Moscow’s side. He warns of possible consequences. The U.S. had not previously formally confirmed North Korea’s reported troop dispatch. At the White House later Wednesday, national security spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. believes that at least 3,000 North Korean soldiers traveled by ship to Vladivostok, Russia’s largest Pacific port, in early to mid-October. Russia and North Korea have denied the troop movements but have sharply boosted their cooperation in recent years.