Over 1,000 North Korean soldiers killed or wounded in Ukraine war: Seoul
Al Jazeera
South Korea says Pyongyang is reportedly preparing for ‘additional deployment of soldiers’ to aid Russia’s war efforts.
More than 1,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded in Russia’s war with Ukraine, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) has said.
The announcement on Monday follows a report by Seoul’s spy agency to parliamentarians last week, which said at least 100 North Korean soldiers had been killed since entering combat in December.
Pyongyang has sent thousands of soldiers to reinforce the Russian military, including to the Kursk border region, where Ukrainian forces seized territory earlier this year.
“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.
Seoul, Washington and Kyiv have said there are approximately 12,000 North Korean soldiers in Russia.
