South Korean intelligence has found that North Korea has dispatched 12,000 troops including special operation forces to support Russia’s war against Ukraine, news reports said Friday, a development that could bring a third country into the war and intensify a standoff between North Korea and the West.

The United States has expressed growing concern over North Korea's increasing military support for Russia in its ongoing war against Ukraine. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said on Wednesday that Washington and its allies are alarmed by Pyongyang's nuclear threats and the growing evidence that North Korea is supplying materials,

North Korea’s military support for Russia, including reports of troop deployments, has raised significant concerns among U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies as tensions escalate in the Ukraine conflict.