North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has harsh words for United States and its Western allies. He accused them of engaging in the conflict in Ukraine to expand the scope of military interventions to the entire world.

The country's state-run media reported on Monday that Kim gave an address at a conference of battalion commanders and other military officers held in Pyongyang on Friday.

He reportedly said many countries are being drawn into the conflict, stressing that concerns about the possibility of World War Three are growing.

The media did not say whether Kim mentioned the dispatch of North Korean soldiers to Russia. The North's troops are thought to have taken part in fighting against Ukraine.

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency quoted an expert as saying that Kim is trying to put a lid on any possible discontent and uneasiness about the dispatch of troops to Russia among frontline officers.