North Korea will send thousands of military construction workers and deminers to support reconstruction work in Russia's Kursk region, a top Russian official said Tuesday, the latest sign of expanding cooperation between the nations.

North Korea will send 6,000 military workers and combat engineers to help rebuild Russia's Kursk region, Moscow's top security official said, in the latest show of growing ties between the two countries.

Thousands of North Korean laborers are already toiling in Russia. A new contingent is headed to the region where North Korean troops fought Ukraine.