North Korea will send thousands of workers to help rebuild Russia’s war-torn Kursk region, Moscow’s security chief has said.

Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu, who held talks with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in its capital Pyongyang on Tuesday, described the deployment as “fraternal assistance”, Russian state media reported.

Neighbouring South Korea and Japan were quick to condemn the plan, with Seoul it saying it was a violation of UN sanctions on North Korea, reports the BBC.

For months concerns have swirled of deepening military collaboration between the two states, amid reports of thousands of North Korean soldiers helping Russia fight its war on Ukraine.