Military authorities believe North Korea is highly likely to send troops to Ukraine to support Russia’s war effort.

Defense minister Kim Yong-hyun revealed the assessment on Tuesday during the parliamentary inspection of the defense ministry, citing that Russia and North Korea have a mutual deal that is second only to a military alliance. 

Kim said Ukrainian media reports that North Korean officers were included among soldiers that were killed from a Ukrainian missile attack at a Russian-occupied region in eastern Ukraine could likely be true. 

In its briefing at the start of the parliamentary inspection, the defense ministry said the global security environment is changing rapidly due to the Russia-Ukraine war and tensions in the Middle East before assessing that Russia-North Korea relations are developing into something close to a military alliance.