It now appears as if the relationship is blossoming. Last month, US government officials revealed that North Korea has shipped approximately 10,000 troops to train in eastern Russia, the first time Russia has invited foreign soldiers onto its territory in more than a century.

A group of North Korean soldiers, posing as "indigenous people" from Russia's Far East, has been involved in combat with Ukrainian forces in Russia's western border region of Kursk. This was reported by Anatolii Barhylevych, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in an interview with the Ukrainian outlet TSN.

North Korea has sent Colonel General Kim Yong Bok to lead the North Korean troops in Russia. This general is one of the ten most important military figures in North Korea and often acts as an aide to Kim Jong Un.