SEOUL – Around 300 North Korean soldiers have been killed and 2 700 wounded while fighting in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
This was revealed by a South Korean lawmaker yesterday, citing information from Seoul’s spy agency.
Seoul has previously claimed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has sent more than
10 000 soldiers as “cannon fodder” to help Moscow fight Kyiv in return for Russian technical assistance for Pyongyang’s heavily sanctioned weapons and satellite programmes.
Over the weekend, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv had captured two North Korean soldiers.
They released a video of the injured combatants being interrogated, and raised the possibility of a prisoner swap for captured Ukrainian troops.
“The deployment of North Korean troops to Russia has reportedly expanded to include the Kursk region. Estimates suggest that casualties among North Korean forces have surpassed
3 000,” lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun told reporters after a briefing from the spy agency.
This includes “approximately 300 deaths and 2 700 injuries,” Lee said after a briefing from Seoul’s National Intelligence Service.
The soldiers, reportedly from North Korea’s elite Storm Corps, have been ordered to kill themselves rather than be taken prisoner, Lee said.
“Notably, memos found on deceased soldiers indicate that the North Korean authorities pressured them to commit suicide or self-detonate before capture,” he said.
He added that some of the soldiers had been granted “amnesty”, or wanted to join North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, hoping to improve their lot by fighting.
One North Korean soldier who was about to be captured shouted “General Kim Jong Un”.
He attempted to detonate a grenade, Lee said, adding that he was shot and killed.
The National Intelligence Service analysis revealed that the North Korean soldiers have “a lack of understanding of modern warfare”.
The soldiers are being used by Russia in a manner leading to “the high number of casualties,” the lawmaker said. –Nampa/AFP