North Korea will send 6,000 military workers and combat engineers to help rebuild Russia's Kursk region, Moscow's top security official said, in the latest show of growing ties between the two countries.

At the end of April, the head of the Russian General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, confirmed that fighters from the DPRK took part in the fighting in the Kursk region. According to Gerasimov, the citizens of North Korea showed resilience and heroism. The soldiers were sent by Pyongyang in accordance with the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty.

North Korea will send thousands of military construction workers and deminers to support reconstruction work in Russia's Kursk region, a top Russian official said Tuesday, the latest sign of expanding cooperation between the nations.