Overview

• The United States has confirmed that around 8,000 North Korean troops are positioned near Ukraine's border in Russia's Kursk region, with expectations of imminent combat deployment.
• This development follows North Korea's test-firing of a powerful intercontinental ballistic missile, which experts suggest may have received Russian technological support.
• The U.S., South Korea, and Japan have condemned the missile launch as a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and a threat to global security.
• There are growing fears that North Korea might receive advanced military technologies from Russia in exchange for its troops and munitions support.
• South Korea is reconsidering its stance on directly supplying weapons to Ukraine in response to the deepening Russia-North Korea military ties.