SEOUL, South Korea — An estimated 4,700 North Korean troopers have been killed or wounded whereas combating alongside Russia in opposition to Ukrainian forces, South Korea’s spy company instructed lawmakers Wednesday.
The evaluation got here two days after North Korea confirmed for the primary time that it had despatched fight troops to assist Russia recapture components of the Kursk region, which it misplaced management of to a shock Ukrainian incursion final 12 months.
In a closed-door parliamentary committee briefing, South Korea’s Nationwide Intelligence Service stated North Korea had suffered 4,700 casualties, together with 600 deaths, on the Russia-Ukraine battlefronts, based on Lee Seong Kweun, one of many lawmakers who attended the assembly.
Lee instructed reporters the NIS stated that 2,000 injured North Korean troopers have been repatriated to North Korea by air or practice between January and March. He cited the NIS as saying the useless North Korean troopers have been cremated in Russia earlier than their stays have been despatched again dwelling.
In January, the NIS stated about 300 North Korean troopers had died and one other 2,700 had been injured, and the South Korean navy elevated the estimated casualties to 4,000 final month.
On Monday, North Korea introduced that chief Kim Jong Un had determined to dispatch troops to “annihilate and wipe out the Ukrainian neo-Nazi occupiers and liberate the Kursk area in cooperation with the Russian armed forces.” Russian President Vladimir Putin later issued a press release thanking North Korea and promising to not overlook the sacrifices of North Korean troopers.
Each Kim and Putin stated the North Korean deployment was made underneath their countries’ landmark 2024 defense treaty, which requires all sides to offer assist if the opposite is attacked. The U.S., South Korea and their companions say North Korea has been supplying huge quantities of conventional weapons to replenish Russia’s depleted shares as nicely. They think Russia is offering North Korea with navy and financial help in return.
U.S., South Korean and Ukraine officers have stated North Korea dispatched 10,000-12,000 troops to Russia final fall. South Korea’s navy stated in March that North Korea despatched about 3,000 additional troops to Russia earlier this 12 months.
Throughout its Wednesday briefing, the NIS stated it assessed that Russia has given North Korea air defense missiles, digital warfare tools, drones and know-how for spy satellite tv for pc launches, based on Kim Byung-kee, one other lawmaker who attended the NIS briefing.
Kim quoted the NIS as saying that 15,000 North Korean laborers have additionally been despatched to Russia underneath bilateral industrial cooperation applications. The lawmaker stated the quantity of North Korean missiles and artillery despatched to Russia was price billions of {dollars} however the NIS hasn’t detected indicators that Russia has despatched North Korea money remittances for them.
