South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers on Monday that two North Korean soldiers who were captured by Ukrainian forces while fighting alongside Russian forces in Russia’s Kursk border region haven’t expressed a desire to seek asylum in South Korea.

Russia and North Korea have boosted their military ties since Moscow’s invasion. Read more at straitstimes.com.

There is mounting evidence from the battlefield, intelligence reports and testimonies of defectors that some North Korean soldiers are resorting to extreme measures as they support Russia's three-year war with Ukraine.

Seoul’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) said in a statement it has “confirmed that the Ukrainian military captured two North Korean soldiers on January 9 in the Kursk battlefield in Russia”.

North Korea has instructed its soldiers fighting in Russia and Ukraine to commit suicide in the face of capture, and evidence suggests they're doing as told, according to South Korean and Ukrainian officials.

North Korean troops stationed in Russia’s Kursk region have reportedly been instructed to commit suicide rather than risk being captured.

In the video, a Russian woman tells her friend she is attending the funeral of a Russian soldier who committed suicide. Read also: Border guard found dead in Odesa Oblast after apparent suicide The soldier had served in Kamchatka before going on leave.