North Korea's enormous death toll fighting Russia's war is revealed
The assessment came two days after North Korea confirmed for the first time that it had sent combat troops to help Russia recapture parts of the Kursk region, which it lost control of to a surprise Ukrainian incursion last year
According to South Korea's intelligence agency, an estimated 4,700 North Korean soldiers have either died or been injured while fighting alongside. This information was shared with lawmakers on Wednesday.
The revelation comes on the heels of North Korea's first official confirmation that it deployed combat forces to aid Russia in retaking parts of the Kursk region lost to a surprise Ukrainian offensive last year.
During a private briefing for a parliamentary committee, South Korea's National Intelligence Service reported that North Korean troops had incurred 4,700 casualties, among them 600 fatalities, as disclosed by lawmaker Lee Seong Kweun who attended the session.
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Lee conveyed to the press that according to the NIS, around 2,000 wounded North Korean soldiers were transported back to their homeland via air or rail from January to March. The NIS also indicated that the deceased North Korean soldiers were cremated in Russia prior to having their ashes repatriated.
This past Monday, an announcement from North Korea stated that its leader, Kim Jong Un, made the decision to send forces to "annihilate and wipe out the Ukrainian neo-Nazi occupiers and liberate the Kursk area in cooperation with the Russian armed forces."
Subsequently, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his gratitude to North Korea, vowing not to forget the sacrifices made by these soldiers.
Both Kim and Putin confirmed that the North Korean deployment was carried out under their countries' landmark 2024 defense treaty, which mandates each side to provide aid if the other is attacked.
The U.S., South Korea, and their allies claim that North Korea has been supplying large quantities of conventional weapons to replenish Russia's depleted stocks. They suspect that Russia is reciprocating with military and economic assistance to North Korea.
Officials from the U.S., South Korea, and Ukraine have reported that North Korea dispatched between 10,000 and 12,000 troops to Russia last fall.
During its Wednesday briefing, the NIS revealed that it believes Russia has supplied North Korea with air defense missiles, electronic warfare equipment, drones, and spy satellite launch technology, according to Kim Byung-kee, another lawmaker who attended the NIS briefing.
Kim cited the NIS as stating that 15,000 North Korean laborers have also been dispatched to Russia under bilateral industrial cooperation programs. The lawmaker noted that the value of North Korean missiles and artillery sent to Russia amounts to billions of dollars, but the NIS has not detected any signs that Russia has sent cash remittances to North Korea in exchange for them.
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North Korean troops currently fighting for Russia in Kursk Oblast could potentially be reassigned to combat in Ukraine, according to experts and Ukrainian officials speaking to the Kyiv Independent.
"If the Kremlin sends North Korean troops to the territory of Ukraine it would mean that North Korea is in a state of all out war with Ukraine," Oleksandr Merezhko, chair of the parliament's foreign affairs committee, to the Kyiv Independent."Putin understands that if he does it (U.S. President Donald) Trump will have to react rather strongly," Merezhko added.
