On Wednesday, Russia's TASS news agency quoted Shoigu as saying North Korea would send a "division of builders, two military brigades [of] 5,000 people", as well as 1,000 deminers to help with the "restoration" of the Kursk region.

North Korea will send 5,000 military construction workers to Russia, Kremlin says - Sergei Shoigu says North Korean workers will help repair damage from Ukrainian incursion in Kursk

By Hyunsu Yim and Joyce Lee SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met Russia's top presidential security adviser Sergei Shoigu in Pyongyang on Tuesday and discussed a "special military operation" in the Kursk region bordering Ukraine,