North Korea will send thousands of military construction workers and sappers to Russia's Kursk region to help rebuild it after a Ukrainian incursion that North Korean troops helped Moscow repel this year,

Russia has reached an agreement with North Korea to send North Korean sappers and builders to assist with reconstruction efforts in the Kursk region, Interfax reports, citing Secretary of the Russian Security Council Sergei Shoigu.

Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu announced the move following two meetings in as many weeks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.