About 4,700 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded fighting
for Russia, South Korea says
[April 30, 2025]
By HYUNG-JIN KIM
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — An estimated 4,700 North Korean soldiers have
been killed or wounded while fighting alongside Russia against Ukrainian
forces, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers Wednesday.
The assessment came two days after North Korea confirmed for the first
time that it had sent combat troops to help Russia recapture parts of
the Kursk region, which it lost control of to a surprise Ukrainian
incursion last year.
In a closed-door parliamentary committee briefing, South Korea's
National Intelligence Service said North Korea had suffered 4,700
casualties, including 600 deaths, on the Russia-Ukraine battlefronts,
according to Lee Seong Kweun, one of the lawmakers who attended the
meeting.
Lee told reporters the NIS said that 2,000 injured North Korean soldiers
were repatriated to North Korea by air or train between January and
March. He cited the NIS as saying the dead North Korean soldiers were
cremated in Russia before their remains were sent back home.
In January, the NIS said about 300 North Korean soldiers had died and
another 2,700 had been injured, and the South Korean military increased
the estimated casualties to 4,000 last month.
On Monday, North Korea announced that leader Kim Jong Un had decided 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 statement
thanking North Korea and promising not to forget the sacrifices of North
Korean soldiers.
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People pass by a TV screen reporting North Korea confirms troops
deployment to Russia during a news program at the Seoul Railway
Station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, April 28, 2025.(AP Photo/Ahn
Young-joon)
Both Kim and Putin said the North Korean deployment was made under
their countries’ landmark 2024 defense treaty, which requires each
side to provide aid if the other is attacked. The U.S., South Korea
and their partners say North Korea has been supplying vast amounts
of conventional weapons to replenish Russia’s depleted stocks as
well. They suspect Russia is providing North Korea with military and
economic assistance in return.
U.S., South Korean and Ukraine officials have said North Korea
dispatched 10,000-12,000 troops to Russia last fall. South Korea's
military said in March that North Korea sent about 3,000 additional
troops to Russia earlier this year.
During its Wednesday briefing, the NIS said it assessed that Russia
has given North Korea air defense missiles, electronic warfare
equipment, drones and technology for spy satellite launches,
according to Kim Byung-kee, another lawmaker who attended the NIS
briefing.
Kim quoted the NIS as saying that 15,000 North Korean laborers have
also been sent to Russia under bilateral industrial cooperation
programs. The lawmaker said the amount of North Korean missiles and
artillery sent to Russia was worth billions of dollars but the NIS
hasn’t detected signs that Russia has sent North Korea cash
remittances for them.
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