Army Lt. Gen. Xavier Brunson presents the oath of enlistment to high school recruits during a ceremony at Saint Martin University, Wash., in 2022. Brunson is nominated to command American and UN forces in South Korea. (Richard Carlisi/U.S. Army)

Secret aspects of a new pact between Russia and North Korea are more concerning than the missiles that Pyongyang has shipped to Moscow for use against Ukraine, the Army general nominated to command American and UN forces in South Korea told senators Tuesday.

Army Lt. Gen. Xavier Brunson said it was unclear precisely what Russia was providing North Korea in exchange for ballistic missiles and artillery shells, which it has used recently against targets across Ukraine. Brunson, who commands Army’s I Corps at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., said tracking down information about Russia’s aid to North Korea would be among his top priorities if he was confirmed for the new job.

“The exchange of lethal aid between [North Korea] and Russia is a thing to be alarmed about, but most importantly what we have to do is see what’s coming back in,” Brunson said during his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill. “And in order to see that … it’s going to take the [intelligence community] to help us to see and understand what’s coming back, because, if confirmed, my job as [U.S. Forces Korea] commander would be to mitigate that, and that is part of our plans.”

Brunson said current USFK commander, Army Gen. Paul LaCamera, who he would replace if confirmed, is already working on finding that information, but he declined to provide specifics, citing security concerns. LaCamera has led the command and its more than 28,500 U.S. troops since July 2021.

Brunson was nominated Sept. 11 by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to serve as the next USFK commander, a promotion that would earn him a fourth star. The USFK commander also oversees the UN Command in South Korea and the Joint Forces Command, which includes South Korean troops.

Brunson appeared poised for easy confirmation, with multiple senators expressing their support for his nomination during the hearing. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Brunson had the “experience, the background and the values” necessary for the job.

Brunson, the son of a retired Army sergeant major who fought in Vietnam, has commanded at every level in the Army, including a battalion in the 82nd Airborne Division, a battlefield surveillance brigade and the 7th Infantry Division at Lewis-McChord. He has commanded I Corps since October 2021. The corps oversees more than 40,000 soldiers in Washington, Hawaii and Alaska who work closely with the Indo-Pacific Command, according to the Army.

Senators said they were worried about recent aggression from North Korea, including ballistic missile launches, the public unveiling of a uranium enrichment facility and its growing ties to Russia.

Reed said he worried Russia would share advanced arms or technologies with North Korea, potentially even supporting its nuclear weapons program.

“The threat from North Korea is real and growing,” he said. “To meet it, the United States must continue to invest in the ‘fight tonight’ mentality alongside our South Korean allies. Indeed, North Korea’s relationship with Russia continues to strengthen, and [North Korean leader] Kim Jong Un is likely receiving technical assistance and ‘lessons learned’ from [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s invasion of Ukraine — particularly for North Korea’s missile and nuclear capabilities.”

The hearing came just days after a Sept. 14 meeting between Kim and Russian security council chief Sergei Shoigu, in which the two nations vowed even closer cooperation. The two nations in June signed a strategic cooperation pact, pledging mutual military assistance, which Putin described as the “strongest ever treaty” between the two authoritarian nations.

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said North Korea has sent Russia more than 16,000 containers of munitions for use in Ukraine in recent months and more were likely to come as “North Korea’s factories are now operating at full capacity so they can keep up supply to Russia.” Kelly added Russia has used dozens of North Korean missiles against Ukraine.

“It’s unclear what North Korea is getting from this cooperation, but I’m concerned that Russia will provide them with more advanced military technology, and we’ve got to do what we can to curtail these illegal arms transfers,” he said. “They’re killing Ukrainians, and they’re harming the security of our allies.”

Brunson said he suspects the arrangement is a “quid pro quo relationship” and might indicate strained relations between North Korea and China, which has traditionally been Pyongyang’s closest partner.

The general vowed to push hard on the intelligence committee to find ways to exploit the Russian-North Korean partnership if he is confirmed. He said he believed such relationships among authoritarian partners cannot stand up to the power of the decades-old relationships that the United States has forged with allies in the region, including South Korea and Japan.

“I think that what we are learning from this is one of our strengths … around the world … is that our United States forces are part of a network of friends, allies and partners that make us strong,” Brunson said. “The Korean peninsula is a great example of that — for 70 years this alliance has stood, and it is an example for other nations to look to. When you look toward authoritarian collusion that occurs between China and [North Korea] and Russia and Iran and others — they don’t have the same benefits that we have.”