"The scale of deployed North Korean troops is being closely watched," Yoon Yeocheol, South Korea's ambassador to the U.K., told Newsweek.

North Korea may deploy as many as 100,000 troops to aid Russia’s war on Ukraine if the alliance between Pyongyang and Moscow continues to deepen, according to people familiar with assessments made by some Group of 20 nations.

The United States said on Monday it was Russia that is escalating the conflict in Ukraine by deploying North Korean troops, after the Kremlin warned that Washington would deepen its involvement in the war by allowing Kyiv's forces to strike far into Russia with U.

But after the US and Ukraine revealed North Korean troops have already engaged in combat with Ukrainian soldiers, their role in the fight is being re-evaluated. Even the number being deployed - originally put at around 11,

Vladimir Putin has warned that such a green light would mean that NATO was "at war" with Russia.

By Hyonhee Shin SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korean leader Kim Jong Un urged the country's military to improve capabilities for fighting a war in a speech last week, state media KCNA said on Monday, after Pyongyang dispatched thousands of troops to Russia.

President Joe Biden authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied long-range missiles inside Russia for the first time Sunday, according to multiple reports—an escalation of U.S. involvement in the conflict in response to North Korean troops being sent to aid Russia.