South Korea's military says North Korea sent around 3,000 additional troops to Russia in January and February in continued support for Russian President Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine. The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea has also been sending more missiles, artillery equipment and ammunition to help Russia. The Joint Chiefs also said they had assessed that 4,000 of the approximately 11,000 military personnel North Korea has sent to fight in the war against Ukraine have been killed or wounded. Separately, North Korea said leader Kim Jong Un observed tests of newly developed reconnaissance and attack drones this week and called for their increased production. It was the latest display of his country's growing military capabilities.

South Korea's military says North Korea has fired several ballistic missiles into the sea. The launch Monday happened hours after South Korean and U.S. troops kicked off their large annual combined drills, which the North views as an invasion rehearsal. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile firings, North Korea's fifth missile launch event this year, were detected from the North's Hwanghae province but gave no further details such as how far they flew. Earlier Monday, the South Korean and U.S. militaries began their drills. The exercises began after the South Korean and U.S. militaries paused live-fire training while Seoul investigates how two of its fighter jets mistakenly bombed a civilian area during a warm-up drill last week.

Ukraine's military intelligence says North Korean troops are suffering heavy losses in Russia's Kursk region and face logistical difficulties as a result of Ukrainian attacks. The intelligence agency said Thursday that Ukrainian strikes near Novoivanovka inflicted heavy casualties on North Korean units. Ukraine's president said earlier this week that 3,000 North Korean troops have been killed and wounded in the fighting in the Kursk region. It marked the first significant estimate by Ukraine of North Korean casualties several weeks after Kyiv announced that North Korea had sent 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia to help it in the almost 3-year war.

Ukraine's military intelligence agency and the Pentagon say some North Korean troops have been killed during combat against Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk border region. These are the first reported casualties since the U.S. and Ukraine announced North Korea has sent 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia to help it in the almost 3-year war. The Ukrainian agency said Monday that around 30 North Korean troops were killed or wounded over the weekend during battle in Kursk, where Russia has for four months been trying to quash a Ukrainian incursion. The Pentagon press secretary says some North Korean troops have died in combat but didn't have a specific number of those killed or wounded.

Germany's top diplomat has arrived in the Ukrainian capital on an unannounced visit. The trip Monday appears to be a show of European support for Ukraine on the eve of a U.S. presidential election that could bring far-reaching changes in Washington's policy toward Russia's all-out invasion of its neighbor. Germany is Ukraine's second biggest weapons supplier after the U.S. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock vowed that Berlin's backing would remain steadfast. The war is at a critical moment for Ukraine with the Russian army making creeping gains on the battlefield and another hard winter ahead.

South Korea warns it could consider supplying weapons to Ukraine in response to North Korea allegedly dispatching troops to Russia. NATO's secretary general says that would mark a "significant escalation." South Korea's statement Tuesday is apparently meant to pressure Russia not to bring in North Korean troops for its war against Ukraine. South Korea worries that Russia may reward North Korea by giving it sophisticated weapons technologies that can boost the North's nuclear and missile programs. Officials say South Korea could consider sending both defensive and offensive weapons to Ukraine. It's also sending experts to brief NATO on its findings next week.

South Korea's spy agency says North Korea has dispatched troops to support Russia's war against Ukraine. If confirmed, that could bring a third country into the war and intensify a standoff between North Korea and the West. The National Intelligence Service said in a statement Friday that Russian navy ships transferred 1,500 North Korean special operation forces to the Russian port city of Vladivostok from Oct. 8 to Oct. 13. It said more North Korean troops are expected to be sent to Russia. South Korean media, citing the NIS, reported that North Korea has decided to dispatch a total of 12,000 troops formed into four brigades to Russia. The NIS did not immediately confirm the reports.

South Korea's military says it's detecting signs that North Korea is installing its own loudspeakers along their border, a day after the South blared anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts over its speakers for the first time in years. South Korea said its loudspeaker broadcast on Sunday was in retaliation for the North sending over 1,000 balloons filled with trash and manure over the last couple of weeks. North Korea has described its balloon campaign as a tit-for-tat against South Korean civilian groups flying anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets across the border.