Chun In-bum, a former commander of South Korea's special forces, agrees with the defectors' appraisals. "Just because they lack food and training, does not mean they are incapable. They will acclimatise quickly. We should not underestimate them."

Far from their homes in one of the world’s most isolated and secretive states, about 11,000 North Korean soldiers find themselves at the center of Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II.

Ukraine's intelligence services released new information Tuesday about the conduct of North Korean troops now fighting alongside Russian forces in the western Russian region of Kursk, which since August has been a key front of Moscow's war on its neighbor.

The Pentagon has seen “indications” that the North Korean forces who have been sent to Russia to help the Kremlin in its war against Ukraine have suffered their first casualties, according to a U.S. official.

U.S. confirms North Korean troop casualties in Russia, with reports of efforts to conceal losses through cremation by Russian forces.