Human rights groups urge South Korea to offer defection pathways for North Korean soldiers captured in Ukraine, amid rising casualties.

Russia was preparing officers for attacks on Japan and South Korea, according to secret military documents from 2013-2014 obtained by "The Financial Times." A detailed plan for strikes on military and civilian targets was even developed.

South Korea’s spy agency said Friday a wounded North Korean soldier who was captured while fighting for Russia against Ukrainian forces has since died from his injuries, the Yonhap news agency reported.

"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.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says he will implement the “toughest” anti-U.S. policy, less than a month before Donald Trump takes office as U.S. president

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently said there have been over 3,000 North Korean casualties in Kursk. South Korea reported over 1,000 casualties last week. Newsweek has not verified either figure. Neither Pyongyang nor Moscow has acknowledged the presence of North Korean troops in Russia.

North Korea's Kim Jong Un vowed to implement the "toughest" anti-U.S. policy, less than a month before Donald Trump takes office as U.S. president.

A pre-flight check of the deadly plane crash in South Korea showed "no issues" prior as U.S. investigators arrived to aid the investigation, according to multiple reports.

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.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that several “seriously wounded” North Korean soldiers died from their injuries after being captured by Ukrainian forces.

Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) destroyed a Russian aerial target with the Ukrainian-made Magura V5 naval strike drone for the first time, HUR reported on Dec. 31. During a battle in the Black Sea off the Western tip of occupied Crimea,