Kim’s enhanced alliance with President Putin adds a whole new dimension to the North-South Korean standoff, as well as to the war in Ukraine and

Nato has been increasing its forces along its eastern flank with Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, deploying thousands of troops and equipment. This is to deter Moscow from expanding its war into the territory of any of the organization’s 32 member countries.

North Korean troops' limited combat experience and unfamiliarity with the terrain of the Russian-Ukrainian battlefields have contributed to heavy losses.

According to South Korean intelligence reports, North Korea is looking to send more troops to fight for Russia in Ukraine.

The unprecedented loss of life in a foreign conflict means that the war in Ukraine could be the Kim regime’s most significant test since the 1990s famine.

Separately, Ukraine revealed more details about the first two North Korean soldiers it has captured alive and said it was willing to exchange them for Ukrainians held in Russia.

North Korea may be accelerating plans to send more troops to replace frontline casualties incurred fighting Ukraine on behalf of Russia.

South Korea's military said on Friday that it suspects North Korea is preparing to send more troops to Russia to fight Ukrainian forces, even after suffering losses and seeing some of its soldiers captured.

Pyongyang understood to be ‘accelerating’ dispatch of troops, despite them being used as ‘cannon fodder’ in Moscow’s war with Ukraine

North Korea's Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un reportedly sent nearly 10,000 to 12,000 troops to aid the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the Kursk region in October

A UK Defence Intelligence report says that command and control issues between North Korean and Russian forces in Kursk are leading to increased casualties and loss of operational cohesion.