A new media report suggests North Korea may be lending military assistance to the regime of Syria's Bashar al-Assad.

A U.S. Web site specializing in North Korea has reported on the presence of a North Korean officer in Syria.

Citing a video from local Web site El Dorar, the U.S.-based Web portal NK News shows Syrian rebels announcing the capture of a Syrian soldier.

During interrogations that Syrian soldier reportedly testified to the presence of two officers --- one Russian and the other Korean --- advising Syrian forces on the battlefront.

Although the testimony did not specify "North" Korean, Pyongyang has long been suspected of lending support to the Syrian regime.

Russian news agency TASS quoted a senior Syrian opposition figure in March as saying two North Korean military units were actively fighting in the Syrian civil war.

And three years ago, an Arabic daily quoted a Syrian opposition coalition which accused the Syrian government of hiring North Korean pilots to attack rebels. 

North Korea is dismissing Tuesday's report as a groundless rumor spread by hostile forces. 

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