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.

North Korea has deployed a second batch of 1,500 troops to support Russia’s war in Ukraine, with the soldiers already stationed near the front lines in Russia’s Kursk region, a South Korean lawmaker said on March 5.

A former North Korean military sergeant has revealed that Pyongyang's soldiers deployed to Russia to fight in Ukraine fear capture more than death, as they are told their families will be executed if they are taken alive.

Around 1,500 North Korean soldiers who were believed to be additionally deployed to Russia have been already on front lines to aid Russia's war against Ukraine, a South Korean lawmaker who recently visited Kyiv said Wednesday,