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.

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.

Former Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu, who is currently on a visit to North Korea, has said that DPRK leader Kim Jong Un has decided to send "North Korean sappers and builders" to Russia to "rebuild" Kursk Oblast.