Kyiv has assessed Russia will help Pyongyang set up Shahed drone factories on North Korean soil, posing new challenges for Seoul.

Thousands of North Korean laborers are already toiling in Russia. A new contingent is headed to the region where North Korean troops fought Ukraine.

North Korea will send 6,000 military workers and combat engineers to help rebuild Russia's Kursk region, Moscow's top security official said, in the latest show of growing ties between the two countries.