Finance ministers and central bankers from the G20 top economies gather in South Africa on Wednesday and Thursday, for a meeting marred by the absence or curtailed attendance of key members and disputes over the main issues of climate, debt and inequality.

South Korea’s spy agency says North Korea appears to have sent additional troops to Russia, after its soldiers deployed on the Russian-Ukraine fronts suffered heavy casualties.

North Korea has sent more soldiers to Russia and re-deployed several to the frontline in Kursk, Seoul's spy agency told AFP on Thursday. However, an official from Seoul's National Intelligence Agency said on Thursday they had been "redeployed" there.

Ukrainian troops holding positions in Kursk say the North Koreans have reappeared on the battlefield and become even more formidable foes.

South Korea’s spy agency on Wednesday said that North Korea appears to have sent additional troops to Russia, after its soldiers deployed on the front lines experienced heavy casualties. The South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) in a statement said it was trying to determine exactly how many more troops North Korea has deployed to Russia.

The fresh deployment comes after North Korea suffered heavy casualties on the front lines in Russia’s war against Ukraine, the South’s spy agency says.