There are risks of North Korea sending additional troops and military equipment to the Russian army,” Zelensky said. “We will have tangible responses to this.”

Secretive North Korea has one of the world’s largest militaries, with 1.28 million active soldiers, but unlike in Russia, the Korean People's Army (KPA) has no recent experience of combat. Pyongyang’s army is “thoroughly indoctrinated but with low readiness,” says Mark Cancian, from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

While some Western officials initially viewed the arrival of North Korean soldiers in Russia as evidence of the Kremlin’s desperation, U.S. agencies now reportedly believe the idea was North Korea’s initiative,

South Korea warns of North Korea’s preparations to supply more troops and drones to aid Russia in the Ukraine war.

After two years of intense courtship, progressing from warm words to vital weapons, summits in Pyongyang to 11,000 soldiers on the ground in Russia, the burgeoning relationship between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un was signed in blood this week when the first stories emerged of North Korean casualties on the Ukrainian battlefield.

In one week there were more than a thousand North Koreans casualties in the fight with Russia against Ukraine. U.S. officials say they are sent into battle with little equipment or preparation.

North Korean troops supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are conducting ground assaults against Ukrainian forces that have led to “heavy casualties,” a White House spokesman said.

According to Newsweek, the Ukrainian military has initiated strategic operations targeting North Korean soldiers operating under Moscow's command. Ad