North Korea will launch its "toughest" ever strategy to counter the United States, state media said Sunday, reporting on a key year-end party meeting overseen by leader Kim Jong Un.

South Korea's spy agency said Friday it had confirmed that a North Korean soldier sent to back Russia's war against Ukraine had been captured by Ukrainian forces.

A North Korean soldier who was captured while fighting in Russia's war against Ukraine has died of his wounds, South Korea's spy agency said on Friday. "It has been confirmed through an allied intelligence agency that the North Korean soldier captured alive on December 26th has just passed away due to worsening wounds," the NIS said in a statement.

"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.

Ukrainian troops have captured a North Korean soldier and Russian materials in Kursk as the battle between the warring countries intensifies.

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

South Korea's military said on Monday it has detected signs of North Korea preparing to send more troops and weapons, including suicide drones, to Russia to support its war against Ukraine.

South Korea's spy agency has confirmed that a North Korean soldier fighting on the Russian side was captured by the Ukrainian military and later died.

UK condemns ‘reckless’ Kremlin after Putin’s apology over Azerbaijan Airlines crash - The UK has called for an independent investigation into the downing of an Azerbaijani plane thought to have been c

Ukraine’s ambassador to South Korea, Dmytro Ponomarenko, echoed these assessments earlier this month. Speaking to Voice of America, he warned that up to 15,000 North Korean troops could be ...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held a key policy-setting meeting of the country's ruling party last week ahead of the new year, state media KCNA reported on Sunday.