SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday met with Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia's Security Council, in Pyongyang, state media KCNA reported on Wednesday. Kim and Shoigu discussed cooperation plans for what Russia calls its "special military operation" in the Kursk region bordering Ukraine,

Thousands of North Korean laborers are already toiling in Russia. A new contingent is headed to the region where North Korean troops fought Ukraine.

North Korea has already sent thousands of troops and a vast amount of conventional weapons to back Russia's war against Ukraine.