North Korea has deployed thousands of troops to support Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, according to Ukrainian, U.S. and South Korean assessments, Pyongyang's first major involvement in a war since the 1950s.

South Korea said it’s willing to accept any North Korean soldiers captured in Ukraine who express a desire to defect to the South, an idea that emerges amid reports of thousands of North Korean soldiers sustaining casualties in support of Russian troops.

Russia’s ambassador to North Korea said that its Asian ally is also hosting Russian children orphaned by its war against Ukraine, as the two nations deepen ties.