North Korea is likely preparing to send additional troops to Russia after suffering heavy losses in battles against Ukrainian forces, South Korea's military said Friday.

SEOUL (Reuters) -- North Korea fired an unidentified missile off its east coast on Tuesday, South Korea's military said. The launch came about a week after the North fired what it claimed was a new intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile, which was North Korea's first missile test since Nov. 5.

South Korea’s military says it suspects North Korea is preparing to send additional troops to Russia after its soldiers already deployed on the Russian-Ukraine war fronts suffered heavy casualties

North Korea is preparing to send additional troops to Russia, despite their role as “human bait” on the battlefield, a new report has warned.

In exchange for helping Russia in the war with Ukraine, North Korea is set to receive Russian MiG-29 and Su-27 fighter jets. Although these are more modern machines than those currently used in North Korean aviation,

"North Korea is presumed to be accelerating preparations for the additional deployment of its troops to Russia while continuing to push for potential launches of a spy satellite or an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM),