SEOUL -- Long before an estimated 15,000 of his compatriots were dispatched to Russia to join the war in Ukraine, former North Korean soldier Lee Eun-pyeong was sent to Moscow, not to fight, but to work as a builder.
More than a year after North Korea began dispatching soldiers to bolster Russia's assault on Ukraine, the alliance between the two countries now increasingly involves China in a grouping that observers say has ambitions to "reshape" Asia's political landscape. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Reuters)
Policy Asia
North Korea forges closer ties with Russia, China in quest for new power bloc
A year after sending troops to Ukraine war, Pyongyang's reward seen as political, not economic
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