South Korea's top envoy to the United Nations said Thursday that North Korean troops are being dissipated as "expendables" in Russia's war against Ukraine and treated as a "cynical" means of sustaining the North Korean regime.

To avoid being hit by multiple drone attacks from the air, North Koreans have taken to forming a ‘human shield,’” says a Seoul-based specialist.

Ukraine captured two wounded North Korean soldiers who were fighting on behalf of Russia in a Russian border region, South Korea’s intelligence service said.

Separately, Ukraine revealed more details about the first two North Korean soldiers it has captured alive and said it was willing to exchange them for Ukrainians held in Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he’s willing to hand over the soldiers to North Korea, if Kim Jong Un arranges for an exchange with Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia.

Ukraine’s president released a video of the two soldiers being interrogated, revealing they knew little about the war they were sent to fight in.

Hundreds of North Korean troops have been killed fighting against Ukraine over the last few months, according to South Korea ’s intelligence agency. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) of South Korea said 300 of Pyongyang’s troops have been killed and another 2,700 wounded since joining Vladimir Putin’s forces last year.

South Korean intelligence has reported that at least 300 North Korean soldiers have been killed and another 2,700 wounded in the war against Ukraine. Source: South Korean news agency Yonhap Details: The National Intelligence Service (NIS) of South Korea shared this information with lawmakers during a closed session of the parliamentary intelligence committee,

A South Korean lawmaker said Seoul's intelligence showed some 3,000 North Korean troops have been wounded or killed in Kursk.

South Korea's intelligence agency estimates that approximately 300 North Korean soldiers have been killed and another 2,700 injured while fighting alongside Russian forces against Ukraine. This marks North Korea's first participation in a large-scale conflict since the 1950-53 Korean War.

Russia signed a strategic partnership treaty with Iran on Friday that follows similar pacts with China and North Korea. All three countries are adversaries of the United States, and Russia has used its ties with them to help blunt the impact of Western sanctions and boost its war effort in Ukraine.