Here’s what else you need to know to Start Your Week Smart. The weekend that was • A plane crash-landed on a runway in South Korea before skidding off and bursting into flames

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently said there have been over 3,000 North Korean casualties in Kursk. South Korea reported over 1,000 casualties last week. Newsweek has not verified either figure. Neither Pyongyang nor Moscow has acknowledged the presence of North Korean troops in Russia.

Russia and Japan have never signed an official peace treaty to end the second world war because of a dispute over the Kuril Islands. The Soviet army seized the Kurils at the end of the war in 1945 and expelled Japanese residents from the islands, which are now home to about 20,000 Russians.

South Korea's military has said that North Korea is preparing to continue aiding Russia in its war with Ukraine, despite casualties.

North Korea's Kim Jong Un vowed to implement the "toughest" anti-U.S. policy, less than a month before Donald Trump takes office as U.S. president.

"Through various sources of information and intelligence, we assess that North Korean troops who have recently engaged in combat with Ukrainian forces have suffered around 1,100 casualties," the JCS said in a statement.

A South Korean court authorized a warrant Tuesday for the arrest of suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol on insurrection allegations following a short-lived bid to impose martial law at the start of the month.

A flight operated by Jeju Air crashed at 9:03 a.m. local time on Sunday while the plane was attempting to land at Muan International Airport near the southern tip of South Korea.

A deepening political crisis in South Korea has not diminished the military readiness of 28,500 troops stationed in the Asian state, a U.S. official said on Friday, but Washington is closely monitoring the situation.

As people in Asia and Australia ring in the New Year, Brits are preparing themselves for this evening’s festivities - but grim weather is likely to ruin some New Year 2025 celebrations