Around 2,000 North Korean troops killed in war against Ukraine
South Korean lawmakers have said, citing intelligence, that about 2,000 North Korean service personnel sent to Russia to take part in combat in Ukraine have been killed.
Source: South Korean Yonhap news agency
Details: South Korea’s National Intelligence Service also noted that Pyongyang plans to send about 6,000 additional soldiers to Russia as a third batch to aid Moscow’s war against Ukraine and that about 1,000 combat engineers have already arrived in Russia. According to the intelligence, the existing troops are deployed in the rear as reserve forces.
Yonhap recalls that since October last year, North Korea has sent about 13,000 military personnel to support Russia’s military actions. North Korea itself has said it lost about 350 soldiers during the first and second deployment phases.
Background:
- At the end of April 2025, a South Korean lawmaker, citing intelligence, said that about 600 North Koreans had been killed in Russia’s war against Ukraine, including while taking part in hostilities in Russia’s Kursk Oblast.
- In June, North Korea’s state media showed footage of the country’s leader Kim Jong Un mourning his soldiers who were reported killed during Russia’s war against Ukraine.
- In August, Kim Jong Un decorated soldiers and commanders of his armed forces who had taken part in fighting in Kursk Oblast on the side of Russia and met with the families of those killed.
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