South Korean Intelligence Report Says 100 North Korean Soldiers Deployed To Russia Killed

Illustration of North Korean soldiers. (Wikimedia Commons/Roman Harak)

South Korean lawmakers quoted the state intelligence agency as saying on Thursday that at least 100 North Korean soldiers deployed to Russia were killed and another 1,000 injured in the fierce fighting against Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region.

MP Lee Seong-kweun said the heavy loss was caused by the lack of experience of North Korean soldiers in drone attacks and their ignorance of the open terrain where they fought.

Lee spoke after a closed-door briefing by the National Intelligence Agency (NIS) to parliament.

The difference in the estimated number of soldiers killed from made by a US military official who said several hundred victims was due to a relatively conservative analysis by NIS, Lee said.

"There are reports that at least 100 people were killed and nearly 1,000 injured," he said.

Lee added that there are indications that North Korea is preparing to deploy additional troops, including intelligence information from the country's leader Kim Jong-un who oversees the training.

The report echoed comments by US and Ukrainian officials that North Korea's losses were enormous and that Russia used them in large numbers in the attack on Kursk, Russia's territory where Ukraine launched a cross-border attack in August.

More than 10,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to assist Russia in the war, according to US and South Korean officials. Pyongyang has also delivered more than 10,000 containers containing artillery shells, anti-tank rockets, as well as mechanical howitzers and rocket launchers.

Neither North nor Russia has officially acknowledged the deployment of troops nor the supply of weapons.