North Korean soldiers are fighting – and “likely” dying – beside Vladimir Putin’s troops in Russia’s war against Ukraine, according to South Korea.

Putin and the North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un signed a defence pact in June, when the Russian president visited the country for the first time in 25 years, vowing to aid one another if attacked.

And, according to South Korea’s defence minister, the agreement may have already led to direct military assistance, with North Korean soldiers fighting on Russia’s behalf – and more could be sent over.

Kim Yong-hyun said on Tuesday: “As Russia and North Korea have signed a mutual treaty akin to a military alliance, the possibility of such a deployment is highly likely.

“The relations between Russia and North Korea are evolving to be almost as close as a military alliance.”

Speaking to his country’s parliament, the minister warned: “As such, more North Korean troops could be deployed in the war, from how we look at it.”

“We believe there have been injuries and fatalities among North Korean troops in Ukraine,” the official added.

His words support a report from Kyiv Post last week, where intelligence sources claimed six officers from North Korea died after a Ukrainian missile strike killed 20 people on the Russian-occupied territory in the Donetsk.

An arm of the Ukrainian government, the Main Intelligence Directorate, already reported last year that Russia had brought in North Korean citizens to Donetsk and Luhansk areas of occupied Ukraine.

While South Korea has strongly condemned Russia’s war against Ukraine, it’s thought the alliance between Moscow and Pyongyang is now the strongest it has been since the Cold War.

Kim has been a vocal supporter of Putin, blaming the US for the global “nuclear threat” rather than Russia, even though its president has repeatedly said he is considering pressing the nuclear button.

Kim also claimed Ukraine’s recent incursion into the Russian region of Kursk is “unforgivable,” despite the fact that Putin’s army occupies 18% of Ukraine.

Putin has been looking to expand his army in recent weeks and intends to ramp up the numbers so he has 1.5 million active servicemen.

However, Russia is reluctant to introduce mobilisation considering the level of backlash the Kremlin faced during their attempt to call up 300,000 reservists in September 2022.

Putin has insisted that they have enough volunteers to fight in the war, but, according to the UK’s ministry of defence, Russia has already suffered over 648,000 casualties since the war began.