South Korea’s military said Friday it suspects North Korea is preparing to send additional troops to Russia after its soldiers fighting in the Russian-Ukraine war suffered heavy casualties. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff also assessed in a report distributed to journalists that North Korea is continuing its

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.

North Korea is likely preparing to send additional troops to Russia after suffering heavy losses in battles against Ukrainian forces, South Korea's military said Friday.

Russia signed a strategic partnership treaty with Iran on Friday that follows similar pacts with China and North Korea. All three countries are adversaries of the United States, and Russia has used its ties with them to help blunt the impact of Western sanctions and boost its war effort in Ukraine.

North Korea is preparing to send additional troops to Russia, despite their role as “human bait” on the battlefield, a report has warned.

Facing exhaustion and North Korean troops, these soldiers fighting for Ukraine say the war needs to end. A CBC News team spoke to them before they headed back to the front line, trying to hold territory seized in Russia's Kursk region.

Ukrainian special operations forces have given an insight into the brutal, near-suicidal tactics of the North Koreans they have faced in intense fighting in the Russian border region of Kursk.