Vice Unification Minister Kim Soo-kyung speaks during a conference at the Ministry of Unification Office of the Inter-Korean Dialogue in Jongno District, Seoul. Oct. 10. Yonhap

The United States may have difficulty in proposing dialogue to North Korea, given the North's advanced nuclear capabilities and security concerns raised by its troop deployment to Russia, a senior Seoul official said Friday.

Vice Unification Minister Kim Soo-kyung made the remarks at a program aired by state broadcaster KTV, amid speculation that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump may seek top-down diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his second term.

"Many are turning their back to North Korea as the North has sent troops to Russia to support Moscow's war in Ukraine, posing a threat to (peace) in Europe and the world," Kim said. "For the U.S., it would be difficult to actively offer to meet with North Korea."

She also cited North Korea's continued advancement of its nuclear arsenal as a possible main hindrance for the U.S. in seeking denuclearization talks with Pyongyang.

"During the campaign, Trump said, if reelected, he would meet Kim Jong-un and well get along with him. But we need to watch the situation as his calculations (to deal with the North) could differ after taking office," Kim said.

Trump and Kim met three times during Trump's first term, including two rare summits in Singapore in 2018 and Vietnam in 2019. But the Hanoi summit ended without a deal in early 2019 due to a failure to narrow differences over the North's denuclearization steps and sanctions relief by Washington.

Kim, meanwhile, said the government is worried about Moscow's possible transfer of spy satellite-related technology to North Korea in return for Pyongyang's troop deployment to Russia.

South Korea's spy agency confirmed that North Korean soldiers have engaged in combat operations against the Ukrainian forces in Russia's western Kursk border region. (Yonhap)