SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged his "invariable support" for Russia in a birthday letter to president Vladimir Putin, while hailing Moscow's war in Ukraine as "sacred", state media reported Wednesday.
Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, North Korea has become a key ally of the Kremlin, sending troops to support Moscow's war effort in return for economic benefits and military technology.
South Korea's spy agency estimated last year that around 2,000 North Korean troops had been killed in the war, while a more recent assessment put the number killed or wounded at around 6,000.
