To avoid being hit by multiple drone attacks from the air, North Koreans have taken to forming a ‘human shield,’” says a Seoul-based specialist.

Hundreds of North Korean troops have been killed fighting against Ukraine over the last few months, according to South Korea ’s intelligence agency. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) of South Korea said 300 of Pyongyang’s troops have been killed and another 2,700 wounded since joining Vladimir Putin’s forces last year.

South Korea's intelligence agency estimates that approximately 300 North Korean soldiers have been killed and another 2,700 injured while fighting alongside Russian forces against Ukraine. This marks North Korea's first participation in a large-scale conflict since the 1950-53 Korean War.

Ukraine has found “irrefutable evidence” of North Korea’s involvement in Russia’s war against his country, president Volodymyr Zelensky said this week as he announced the capture of two North Korean soldiers.

Separately, Ukraine revealed more details about the first two North Korean soldiers it has captured alive and said it was willing to exchange them for Ukrainians held in Russia.

A South Korean lawmaker said Seoul's intelligence showed some 3,000 North Korean troops have been wounded or killed in Kursk.

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 Korean soldiers did not know they were being sent to the aggressor country of russia to fight against Ukraine. They were told they were participating in

South Korea's top envoy to the United Nations said Thursday that North Korean troops are being dissipated as "expendables" in Russia's war against Ukraine and treated as a "cynical" means of sustaining the North Korean regime.

Even to holders of powerful passports, an ever-shrinking number of countries considered safe to visit, means a world that is more difficult to navigate for travelers.