North Korea recently sent some 3,500 additional soldiers to Russia's Far East for field training, a South Korean lawmaker said Wednesday, with the possibility of soon being dispatched to the front lines.

SEOUL -- A former sergeant in the North Korean military says that few of Pyongyang's soldiers have been captured fighting against Ukraine because they're told their families will be executed if they are caught alive.

South Korea relies on security guarantees from the US to deter North Korean aggression, providing sites that host about 28,500 American troops. Earlier in March, a nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier docked at a South Korean port, prompting the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to denounce the deployment of strategic assets in the region.

The fresh deployment comes after North Korea suffered heavy casualties on the front lines in Russia’s war against Ukraine, the South’s spy agency says.

South Korea's spy agency says North Korea appears to have sent more troops to Russia, after its soldiers deployed on the Russian-Ukraine fronts suffered heavy casualties.

Ukrainian troops holding positions in Kursk say the North Koreans have reappeared on the battlefield and become even more formidable foes.

North Korea is no exception. Reports indicate that Kim Jong-un's soldiers, sent to fight alongside Russia, are learning how to use drones and improve battlefield tactics. This could have serious consequences for the region.

North Korea has deployed a second batch of 1,500 troops to support Russia’s war in Ukraine, with the soldiers already stationed near the front lines in Russia’s Kursk region, a South Korean lawmaker said on March 5.

The psychological warfare to urge North Korean soldiers to surrender in battle has had little effect, according to Ukrainian intelligence Reports of more North Korean troops training for deployment in the Ukraine war have raised alarm in Seoul,