Welcome to Learning English, a daily 30 minute program from the Voice of America.

I'm Ashley Thompson.

And I'm Mario Ritter Jr.

This program is designed for English learners,

so we speak a little slower

and we use words and phrases especially written for people learning English.

On today's program, Mario and I bring you stories, along with Brian Lynn, who has this

week's technology report.

We close the show with the lesson of the day from our VOA learning English teachers

Jill Robbins and Andrew Smith. But first this report. The United States said on Wednesday that it had seen

evidence of North Korean troops in Russia and South Korean intelligence officials told lawmakers that about 3,000 soldiers

had been sent to support Russia's war against Ukraine.

Speaking in Rome, Italy, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, there is evidence that there are DPRK troops in Russia.

DPRK is short for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.

Austin said it would be very, very serious if the North Koreans were preparing to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine,

as Ukraine's government has claimed.

However, the defense chief added that it remained to be seen what the North Korean soldiers are doing in Russia.

South Korean Intelligence first reported that the Russian Navy

had taken 1,500 North Korean special warfare troops to Russia last week.

And Ukrainian President Volodemir Zelensky said his government had intelligence information saying that 10,000 North Korean soldiers

are preparing to join the invading Russian forces.

South Korean lawmakers then said that Intelligence Chief Choateon told them another 1,500 had entered Russia, with thousands more expected to follow.

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