In an interview with The Japan Times, Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's Defence Intelligence, outlined the scale and consequences of military cooperation between moscow and Pyongyang.

According to him, russia is lavishly funding North Korea's involvement in the war against Ukraine.

"The Kremlin pays for all military equipment and troops. This is tens of billions of dollars' worth, and for the economy of North Korea, one of the most isolated in the world, this is very serious money," Budanov noted.

He stressed that this partnership extends far beyond the war in Ukraine and has a much broader geopolitical dimension.

"We have consistently emphasized that the cooperation between moscow and Pyongyang does not only pose a threat to Ukraine," Budanov said.

North Korea is gaining unique combat experience, as only a handful of nations have ever fought a war of this scale.

"There are currently only three countries in the world with the experience of waging a modern war on a very long front line using virtually all available conventional means — these are Ukraine, russia and North Korea," Budanov underlined.

Shortly, the DPRK plans to send additional forces to russia — around 6,000 troops and between 50 to 100 units of North Korean military equipment, including M2010 (Cheonma-D) main battle tanks and BTR-80 armored personnel carriers, reportedly for engineering operations.

"Some of them may indeed be involved in demining and building fortifications, but will all of them do that?" Budanov remarked.

Read the full interview here.