South Korea will offer "necessary protection and support" to North Korean prisoners of war captured in Ukraine who wish to come to the South, Seoul said Wednesday.

North Korea has deployed thousands of troops to support Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, according to Ukrainian, U.S. and South Korean assessments, Pyongyang's first major involvement in a war since the 1950s.

The deployment of thousands of North Korean troops marks the country's first participation in a large-scale conflict since the end of the Korean War.