A minimum of 100 North Koreans useless in Ukraine battle, South Korea says

A minimum of 100 North Korean troopers have been killed in combating in Ukraine’s battle since they entered fight on the Russian aspect earlier this month, a South Korean lawmaker stated.

Lee Sung-kwon, talking to reporters after Parliament was briefed by the nation’s Nationwide Intelligence Service, stated a further 1,000 individuals had been injured.

He stated the casualties included high-ranking officers and might be defined by the troops’ lack of familiarity with the terrain and with drone warfare.

The first reports of North Korean casualties came earlier this week.. It emerged in October that the North had despatched 10,000 troops to assist Russia’s battle effort.

On Monday, a US Pentagon spokesperson stated North Koreans had been killed, with out giving a determine, and a day later an unnamed US official stated there had been “a number of hundred” useless or injured.

The BBC has not independently verified these claims.

North Korean troops, none of whom have prior fight expertise, reportedly spent their first weeks in Russia coaching after which serving in assist roles.

The casualties reportedly came about in Russia’s Kursk area, the place Ukrainians are defending a small space of ​​territory captured in a surprise incursion in August.

Final Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated Russia had begun utilizing “vital numbers” of North Koreans in its assaults on Kursk.

They aren’t believed to have been deployed in Ukraine itself, the place Russian troops have superior within the east of the nation in current months.

Lee Sung-kwon stated there have been stories of preparations for extra deployment and that North Korean chief Kim Jong-un may oversee the coaching.

It cited intelligence officers as saying the excessive casualty numbers might be attributed to “an unfamiliar battlefield setting, the place North Korean forces are used as replaceable frontline assault models, and their lack of means to counter drone assaults.

“Inside the Russian army, there have reportedly been complaints that North Korean troops, as a consequence of their lack of drone data, are extra of a burden than an asset,” he added. .

Neither Russia nor the North has acknowledged the troop deployment, however a North Korean assertion launched Thursday by the official KCNA information company stated the nation’s alliance with Moscow “deters the US and ill-intentioned extension of Western affect.