A California man has been sentenced to eight years in prison after admitting to shipping weapons and ammunition to North Korea

A Chinese national has been sentenced to eight years in prison for smuggling firearms and other military items to North Korea, the US justice department has said. Shenghua Wen, 42, received around $2m (£1.5m) from North Korean officials to ship the items from California, according to a statement from the agency on Monday.

A Chinese national will spend nearly 10 years in prison for conspiring to smuggle weapons and sensitive U.S. technology to North Korea and accepting million-dollar bribes.

Since taking office in a snap election in June, the liberal Lee has taken steps to lower tensions with the nuclear-armed North, and the issue is one where he is expected to find common ground with Trump, who still boasts of his historic summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korea is stepping up criticism of South Korea's new President Lee Jae Myung as he prepares for his first summit with U.S President Donald Trump, calling Lee's efforts to engage with Pyongyang a "pipedream".

SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korean leader Kim Jong Un praised "heroic" North Korean troops who fought for Russia in the war against Ukraine, in a meeting with officers of the army's overseas operation, state media KCNA said on Thursday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Thursday lauded and commended his overseas forces fighting on behalf of Russia against Ukraine, KCNA said. He said his forces will continue to fight for the Russian side till Moscow achieves its military objectives in the war.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has met with ground commanders of the North's troops deployed to the front-line Kursk region and "highly appreciated" their role in aiding Russia's war on Ukraine, the North's state media reported Thursday.