Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke Friday with his counterparts in South Korea and Japan, vowing to strengthen military ties with both countries amid regional security concerns, according to their respective defense ministries.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his Japanese counterpart agreed during their first phone call to expand their nations’ joint military presence around Japanese islands in the East China Sea, according to Japan’s defense ministry.

The new US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and his Japanese counterpart Gen Nakatani had their first phone conversation on Thursday, January 30. The two sides agreed to expand their countries' joint military presence around the Japanese islands in the East China Sea,

North Korea sent its best troops to aid Russia in its war against Ukraine. But after months of suffering severe losses, they have been taken off the front line.

North Korean troops have not been seen on the frontlines in Russia’s Kursk region for several weeks, a Ukrainian military official said Friday, amid reports of mass casualties among Pyongyang’s forces.