North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said the North's deployment of troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine was "justifiable," calling it an exercise of sovereign rights under a mutual defense treaty with Moscow,

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a rare visit to Russia's embassy in Pyongyang with his daughter on Friday and reaffirmed "the invincible alliance" between the two countries, while Russia's leader greeted North Korean generals in Moscow.

The assessment came two days after North Korea confirmed for the first time that it had sent combat troops to help Russia recapture parts of the Kursk region.