South Korea will gradually take countermeasures in line with the level of military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, Deputy National Security Advisor Kim Tae-hyo told a briefing on Tuesday.The comments came as South Korea's presidential office urged Pyongyang to immediately withdraw North Korean troops that Seoul says have been dispatched to Russia for the war with Ukraine.

Washington state authorities said on Monday that five people were killed in a shooting at a home near Seattle and that a 15-year-old boy is in custody for the killings.Three children and two adults were killed, the King County Sheriff's department said in a statement. A girl who lived in the house was also injured.

Lee Hsien Yang, the youngest son of the founder of modern Singapore Lee Kuan Yew and estranged brother of former premier Lee Hsien Loong, said on Tuesday he is now a political refugee from Singapore under the UN Refugee Convention.He said in a Facebook post that Britain has determined that he faces "a well-founded risk of persecution, and cannot safely return to Singapore."Singapore's government has said a claim by the youngest son of the country's modern founder that he is facing persecution in the city-state is "baseless" and "unfounded," Channel News Asia reported.In an online article, Channel News Asia carried an image of a government statement, which it said was a response to questions from the Guardian newspaper.