Following the deployment of thousands of troops to the front of Russia’s war against Ukraine last October, reports have surfaced indicating that North Korea is expanding its ties with Vladimir Putin’s regime by sending thousands of migrant workers to fill the widening worker shortage void in Russia.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Un has “dispatched around 15,000 workers to Russia,” many of whom “are believed to have entered the country on student visas.” Due in part to Putin’s grinding war in Ukraine, which has now stretched on for 38 months and has cost Russia somewhere between 164,223 to 237,211 lives, as well as a birth rate well below replacement level, Russia’s Labor Ministry has reported that there is currently a 1.5 million shortfall in workers. The ministry further reported that “the shortfall could swell to 2.4 million by 2030.”

As noted by the WSJ, “North Korean laborers are pouring into Russia, prized by local employers for their low wages and willingness to work 12-hour days without complaint.” According to Lt. Col. (Ret.) Bob Maginnis, Family Research Council’s senior fellow for National Security, “North Korea has long sent citizen laborers to other countries and then taken much of their wages.” He further noted that “North Koreans and Chinese have long gone into Russia to work at slave labor wages, especially in the eastern part of Russia.”

Maginnis further observed that Kim Jong Un has expended his subjects in the service of other regimes as well. “North Koreans are believed to have labored for the Iranians digging deep caverns for Tehran’s nuclear enrichment and other programs,” he told The Washington Stand. “These tunnels and caverns are so deep as to likely be impenetrable even to our best bunker buster bombs.”

The sizeable gift of North Korean workers to Russia is an indication that the totalitarian communist state, which is considered the preeminent human rights abuser in the world, is continuing to deepen its ties with Putin’s regime. Last year, Pyongyang sent 12,000 soldiers to fight against Ukraine on behalf of Russia, which “were decisive in Russia’s efforts to expel Ukrainian forces that had occupied a region in southern Russia.” This year, North Korea has so far sent an additional 3,000 troops to Moscow.

In addition, it was reported in December that Kim Jong Un’s regime is “expanding arms production at home to churn out the weapons Moscow needs to feed its voracious war machine.” The boost in arms aid to Russia includes ballistic missiles, one of which “Ukraine said killed 12 people and injured almost 90 in Kyiv in late April.”

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is continuing efforts to broker a ceasefire agreement between Ukraine and Russia. Last week, U.S. and Ukrainian officials signed an economic partnership agreement that would give Washington “preferential access to future Ukrainian mineral deals.” Observers say the agreement strengthens ties between the two countries and will likely lead to increased U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine, although none were specified in the deal. Last week, President Trump condemned Russia’s recent deadly missile strike that killed Ukrainian civilians, while also commenting that Putin is “just tapping me along” by continuing to drag out ceasefire negotiations.

As for Trump’s dealings with North Korea, Axios reported last week that his administration “has quietly been holding discussions and consulting outside experts as it considers options for potentially restarting dialogue” with Pyongyang. However, one U.S. official acknowledged that “we are in a much worse situation today” as compared to Trump’s first term due to significant advancements in Kim Jong Un’s nuclear capabilities as well as its widening alliance with Moscow.