Human rights groups urge South Korea to offer defection pathways for North Korean soldiers captured in Ukraine, amid rising casualties.

"Through various sources of information and intelligence, we assess that North Korean troops who have recently engaged in combat with Ukrainian forces have suffered around 1,100 casualties," the JCS said in a statement.

Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) destroyed a Russian aerial target with the Ukrainian-made Magura V5 naval strike drone for the first time, HUR reported on Dec. 31. During a battle in the Black Sea off the Western tip of occupied Crimea,

North Korea's Kim Jong Un vowed to implement the "toughest" anti-U.S. policy, less than a month before Donald Trump takes office as U.S. president.

Despite their elite status, North Korea's "Storm" troops were ill-prepared for the war, South Korea's National Intelligence Service said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently said there have been over 3,000 North Korean casualties in Kursk. South Korea reported over 1,000 casualties last week. Newsweek has not verified either figure. Neither Pyongyang nor Moscow has acknowledged the presence of North Korean troops in Russia.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says he will implement the “toughest” anti-U.S. policy, less than a month before Donald Trump takes office as U.S. president

South Korea’s spy agency said Friday a wounded North Korean soldier who was captured while fighting for Russia against Ukrainian forces has since died from his injuries, the Yonhap news agency reported.

The first North Korean soldier taken prisoner of war by Ukrainian forces while fighting for Russia has died of his injuries, South Korean intelligence said Friday.

A South Korean court authorized a warrant Tuesday for the arrest of suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol on insurrection allegations following a short-lived bid to impose martial law at the start of the month.