North Korea could deploy up to 100,000 soldiers to help Russian forces in its attack on Ukraine, according to a top defense expert.

Reserve Colonel Igor Korotchenko, who is based in Moscow, told a government broadcaster that Russia should not be "shy" in welcoming the "hand extended" by Kim Jong-un, as per a report from Mirror.

According to Regnum news agency, North Korea has made it known through "diplomatic channels" that in addition to providing construction workers to fix war wreckage, it is also prepared to provide a substantial military presence.

They would be assigned to the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic, two pro-Putin separatist states that Kim recently recognized as sovereign countries.

Moscow-backed rebels have been in charge of the Donbas, the southeastern areas of Donetsk and Luhansk, for eight years.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin did not recognize Donetsk and Luhansk as official republics until February 21, three days before the start of the Russia-Ukraine War.

All UN members, except for Russia, believe that the DPR is still technically a part of Ukraine and not a separate country. According to the report of a pro-Kremlin news outlet, North Korea "is ready to transfer up to 100,000 of its soldiers to Donbas." Kim's struggling economy would receive grain and energy in exchange.

The claim was seized on by Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of Russia's National Defence journal, on Rossiya 1 channel. He said there are reported, "100,000 North Korean volunteers prepared to come and take part in the conflict."

North Korean Forces May Help in Restoration of Devastated Areas

Russian Ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora, in a July interview, said that the self-declared people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk might use the assistance of North Korean laborers to restore the infrastructure that the fighting has destroyed.

Notwithstanding UN sanctions, Matsegora suggested there might be "a lot of opportunities" for economic cooperation between the North and the self-declared republics in the Donbas region of Ukraine, The Guardian reported.

In an interview, he reportedly said that highly skilled and diligent Korean builders, who are capable of working in the most challenging situations, "could help restore" social, infrastructure, and industrial facilities, according to NK News.

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Days after becoming one of just a few nations to recognize the two regions, North Korea accused the Ukrainian government of being a part of Washington's "hostile" policy toward Pyongyang in his remarks.

Russia Has 'No More Allies'

Dmytro Kuleba, the foreign minister of Ukraine, claimed that Russia's request for assistance from North Korea demonstrated that Moscow has "no more allies in the world" aside from nations that rely on it economically and politically."

Ukraine had already stopped its political and economic ties with North Korea as part of UN-led sanctions intended to intensify pressure on Pyongyang to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, 

Due to Pyongyang's intercontinental ballistic missile launches, the U.N. Security Council, of which Russia is a permanent member, issued a resolution in December 2017 banning member states from hiring North Korean laborers.

According to VOA news, Pyongyang has traditionally sent North Korean laborers to Russia to earn foreign currency to give back home. Before the U.N. imposed sanctions, the U.S. estimated 30,000 North Korean employees were in Russia.

Many people continued to live and work in Russia on travel or student visas. In a document delivered to the U.N., Russia acknowledged that 511 North Koreans still stayed there in March 2020.

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