South Korean MP Reports Over 100 North Korean Fatalities in Ukraine Conflict

A South Korean Member of Parliament stated that a minimum of 100 North Korean troops have died in the Ukraine conflict since they began fighting alongside Russian forces earlier this month. Lee Sung-kwon, addressing journalists following a parliamentary briefing by the National Intelligence Service of South Korea, also reported that an additional 1,000 soldiers sustained injuries. Lee Sung-kwon indicated that the fatalities encompassed senior officers and suggested that the lack of familiarity with the local geography and drone combat might account for these losses. Initial accounts of North Korean casualties surfaced earlier this week. In October, it was revealed that North Korea had dispatched 10,000 soldiers to support Russia’s military campaign. A spokesperson for the US Pentagon confirmed on Monday that North Koreans had died, though a specific figure was not provided. The following day, an unidentified US official mentioned that “several hundred” had been either killed or wounded. The BBC has not independently confirmed these assertions. It is believed that the North Korean forces, none of whom possess prior combat experience, spent their initial weeks in Russia undergoing training and subsequently performing support duties. The casualties are presumed to have taken place in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces are defending a limited area of land seized during an unexpected incursion in August. Last Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Russia had started employing a “significant number” of North Koreans in its attacks in Kursk. These troops are not believed to have been deployed within Ukraine itself, where Russian forces have been progressing in the eastern regions of the nation in recent months. Lee Sung-kwon mentioned reports indicating preparations for further deployments and suggested that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un might supervise training. He cited intelligence officials who attributed the substantial number of casualties to an “unfamiliar battlefield environment, where North Korean forces are being utilised as expendable frontline assault units, and their lack of capability to counter drone attacks”. He further added, “Within the Russian military, complaints have reportedly surfaced that the North Korean troops, due to their lack of knowledge about drones, are more of a burden than an asset.” While neither Russia nor North Korea has confirmed the troop deployments, a North Korean statement issued on Thursday by the state news agency KCNA asserted that the nation’s alliance with Moscow was “deterring the US and the West’s ill-intended extension of influence”.