South Korea said it’s willing to accept any North Korean soldiers captured in Ukraine who express a desire to defect to the South, an idea that emerges amid reports of thousands of North Korean soldiers sustaining casualties in support of Russian troops.

The South Korean government has announced that it will provide the necessary protection and support to all North Korean soldiers captured by the Ukrainian military, in accordance with the fundamental principle and related laws that guarantee their acceptance if they request to move to S.

North Korea has deployed thousands of troops to support Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, according to Ukrainian, U.S. and South Korean assessments, Pyongyang's first major involvement in a war since the 1950s.

North Korea has criticized the United States and Asian neighbors for pursuing the “absurd” goal of denuclearizing the North and says it will push to expand its nuclear forces under the direction of it

North Korea's foreign ministry said on Tuesday that it will keep bolstering its nuclear force, denouncing a recent joint pledge by the United States, South Korea and Japan for its denuclearisation, according to state media KCNA.

North Korea criticized the United States for pursuing the "absurd and outdated" goal of denuclearization Tuesday, saying that Pyongyang would stick to leader Kim Jong Un's goal of building up its nuclear forces.