North Korea is “significantly benefiting” from its troops gaining battlefield experience fighting alongside Russian forces as it makes them more capable of waging war against rivals South Korea and Japan, a US official warned the UN.

South Korean intelligence, based on information from a "friendly nation", has reported that a wounded North Korean soldier captured by Ukrainian troops has died. Source: South Korean news agency Yonhap;

The United States warned on Wednesday that North Korea is benefiting from its troops fighting alongside Russia against Ukraine, gaining experience that makes Pyongyang "more capable of waging war against its neighbors.

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.

North Korea is learning combat lessons fighting Ukraine, a US official said. It means the authoritarian state is more of a threat to its neighbors. North Korea has dispatched around 12,000 troops to fight for Russia.

The government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is sacrificing its people for the sake of nuclear ambitions and supporting Russia's military machine, which continues its military aggression against Ukraine,

Deputy US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Camille Shea has warned that the involvement of North Korean troops in the war against Ukraine allows the DPRK to gain valuable combat experience, increasing its readiness for military actions against neighbouring countries.