North Korean troops fighting for Russia could affect East Asia's strategic balance, Sang Hun Seok told Newsweek.

North Korean troops could be thrown into the meatgrinder that is Russia's war in Ukraine, with 10,000 already deployed according to US intelligence services with more feared

Western and Ukrainian officials have called the appearance of North Korean forces on the battlefield a major escalation.

Ukraine’s allies will look to pressure China over North Korea’s growing support for Russia’s war during a Group of 20 Summit in Brazil, according to people familiar with the matter.

North Korean soldiers, who were previously sent to Russia, are now in Kursk Oblast and are "already engaging in combat" operations against Ukraine. Source: Yonhap, citing South Korea's spy agency Details: The intelligence service reported that "North Korean soldiers dispatched to Russia have moved to Kursk Oblast over the past two weeks and their deployment to battlefields has been completed".

The deployment of around 10,000 North Korean troops in Russia's border Kursk region is convincing the Pentagon to see the conflict in a wider context

Russia appears ready to escalate its yearslong war with Ukraine, preparing tens of thousands of troops in southern Russia for what could be a new offensive with reinforcements from recently arrived North Korean troops.