Around 600 North Korean soldiers have been killed while fighting alongside Russian forces, South Korean lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun said on April 30, citing briefings from the country's National Intelligence Service, Reuters reported.
Lee, a member of South Korea's parliamentary intelligence committee, said North Korea has suffered about 4,700 casualties in total, including both dead and wounded.
Despite early losses and poor equipment, North Korean troops have improved their combat effectiveness over six months by adopting to modern weapons, in particular drones.
"After six months of participation in the war, the North Korean military has become less inept, and its combat capability has significantly improved as it becomes accustomed to using new weapons such as drones," Lee told reporters.
Russia's Chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, on April 26 publicly acknowledged that North Korean soldiers have fought in Kursk Oblast to help Russia retake territory seized by Ukraine during a cross-border offensive launched in August 2024. Pyongyang followed suit shortly after.
The campaign aimed to disrupt Russian preparations for an assault on Sumy Oblast and divert Kremlin forces from the front lines in Donetsk Oblast.
Kyiv and Seoul have previously estimated that around 11,000 North Korean troops were initially deployed to the region, though Moscow had not officially confirmed their presence until now.
In exchange for troops and arms deliveries to Moscow, Pyongyang appears to have received Russian technical assistance on spy satellites, as well as drones and anti-air missiles, according to the South Korean intelligence assessment.
President Volodymyr Zelensky previously said North Korean units fighting for Russia had suffered around 4,000 casualties, with roughly two-thirds killed.
On April 28, the Russian state news agency TASS released footage allegedly showing North Korean soldiers training alongside Russian troops in Kursk Oblast.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said on April 29 that North Korea shares responsibility for the ongoing bloodshed in Ukraine due to its support for Russia's war effort.
"North Korea's military deployment to Russia and any support provided by the Russian Federation to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in return must end," Bruce said.
"Russia's training of North Korean soldiers directly violates Security Council Resolutions 1718, 1874, and 2270, which collectively impose a broad prohibition on providing or receiving military training or assistance to or from the DPRK."
Tim Zadorozhnyy
(Updated: )
