North Korea and Russia are deepening their military cooperation, as Pyongyang ramps up the supply of arms to Moscow for its war in Ukraine and receives much needed cash and oil from the Kremlin in return.

Despite their elite status, North Korea's "Storm" troops were ill-prepared for the war, South Korea's National Intelligence Service said.

South Korea's military has said that North Korea is preparing to continue aiding Russia in its war with Ukraine, despite casualties.

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.”

Against the backdrop of nearly 11 years of total war in Ukraine, Russia and North Korea are increasing military cooperation into a full military defense

As the war in Ukraine drags on toward a fourth year, North Korea is preparing to send Moscow more troops beyond the 12,000 already there, as well as additional weapons, including suicide drones, according to the latest assessment from South Korean intelligence.

In Trump-led armistice talks, the Hermit Kingdom may want a seat at the table.

"Through various sources of information and intelligence, we assess that North Korean troops who have recently engaged in combat with Ukrainian forces have suffered around 1,100 casualties," the JCS said in a statement.

Ukraine's military intelligence says North Korean troops are suffering heavy losses in Russia's Kursk region and face logistical difficulties as a result of Ukrainian attacks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said there have been more than 3,000 North Korean casualties in Russia's Kursk region.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has, for the first time, sent combatant units abroad, to aid Russia in the war in Ukraine. As noted in the Joint Statement on the DPRK’s Deployment of Troops to Russia this development indelibly connects the Indo-Pacific and European theaters,