SEOUL -- A former sergeant in the North Korean military says that few of Pyongyang's soldiers have been captured fighting against Ukraine because they're told their families will be executed if they are caught alive.

North Korea recently sent some 3,500 additional soldiers to Russia's Far East for field training, a South Korean lawmaker said Wednesday, with the possibility of soon being dispatched to the front lines.

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