U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that Russia intends to share its advanced space and satellite technology with North Korea, in exchange for the North's provision of weapons and other equipment to Moscow in support of its war against Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds talks Monday in crisis-riven South Korea, seeking to encourage policy stability in the US ally, including in its complicated relationship with Japan. Yoon delighted the United States by seeking to turn the page on decades of friction with Japan,

South Korea's military has said that North Korea is preparing to continue aiding Russia in its war with Ukraine, despite casualties.

South Korea's military said on Monday it has detected signs of North Korea preparing to send more troops and weapons, including suicide drones, to Russia to support its war against Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently said there have been over 3,000 North Korean casualties in Kursk. South Korea reported over 1,000 casualties last week. Newsweek has not verified either figure. Neither Pyongyang nor Moscow has acknowledged the presence of North Korean troops in Russia.

Leaked Russian military documents reveal plans to target civilian infrastructure like nuclear power plants and tunnels, raising concerns about potential war crimes.

“In battles yesterday and today near just one village, Makhnovka, the Russian army lost up to a battalion of North Korean infantry soldiers and Russian paratroops,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly address yesterday, calling the losses “significant.”

Despite their elite status, North Korea's "Storm" troops were ill-prepared for the war, South Korea's National Intelligence Service said.

Russian forces are advancing in the east, slowly but surely, and they are shrinking Ukraine’s partial hold of the border region of Kursk

After North Korea's missile flew around 1,100 kilometres before falling into the sea, Seoul said it had "strengthened surveillance and vigilance" for more launches.

While almost all major economies should see monetary easing during the coming year, the pace is likely to slow.