Pyongyang -- with whom Moscow signed a mutual defence pact -- is already widely believed to be arming Russia for its invasion but troops on the ground would mark a new escalation in the conflict.
North Korea's foreign minister arrived in Russia on Tuesday for talks as the Russia-Ukraine war appeared to take a dangerous new turn, with NATO and South Korea expressing alarm that North Korean troops could soon be joining in on Moscow's side.
Ukraine’s defence forces have not yet had combat contact with North Korean military personnel and have not taken any prisoners on the Kursk front.
South Korea, which remains technically at war with the nuclear-armed North decades after the 1950-1953 Korean War, also condemned the deployments, with officials in Seoul worried about what Russia may be providing to Pyongyang in return.
