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.

South Korea and Ukraine have stepped up warnings that North Korea is preparing to send troops to support Russia’s war on Ukraine in a sign of deepening military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang.

Volodymyr Zelensky claims North Korea is preparing to send 10,000 soldiers to fight alongside Russian military, calling it the ‘first step to a world war’