North Korea sends 1,500 more troops to Russia, claims Seoul

North Korea has sent 1,500 more soldiers to Russia, according to Seoul's spy agency, with expectations that a total of 10,000 troops will be deployed by December.

The latest deployment brings the number of Pyongyang's troops in Russia to 3,000, lawmaker Park Sun-won said, after a briefing by the National Intelligence Service, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.

"An additional 1,500 troops are believed to have been deployed to Russia... so approximately 3,000 North Korean soldiers are believed to have been deployed to Russia so far," Park, who sits on parliament's intelligence committee, told reporters.

"The planned deployment of about 10,000 troops from North Korea to Russia is expected to to have occurred by December," he added.

Seoul's spy agency last week said Pyongyang had decided to send a "large-scale" troop deployment to Russia to fight against Ukraine , cementing Pyongyang's contentious military alliance with Moscow.

North Korean state media has not commented on the purported troop deployment, which Russia has also not confirmed.

South Korea has long claimed the nuclear-armed North is supplying Russia with weapons for use in Ukraine, and Seoul expressed alarm over the troop deployment, which comes after Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a military deal in June.

News.Az