By SEOUL, South Korea — About 300 North Korean troops have been killed and 2,700 others injured while fighting for Russia against Ukrainian forces, South Korean lawmakers said Monday, as Ukraine revealed more details about two North Korean soldiers it has captured.
“Poor understanding of modern warfare tactics,” along with the way they are being utilized by Russia, has contributed to the high casualty rates among North Korean soldiers, lawmakers Lee Sung-kwon and Park Sun-won told reporters after a closed-door briefing from South Korea’s National Intelligence Service.
The agency also said that North Korean soldiers have been ordered to commit suicide by detonating explosives to avoid being captured, according to the lawmakers.
Ukrainian and U.S. officials say some 11,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to the Russian region of Kursk, where Ukrainian forces launched a cross-border incursion in August and recently launched a new offensive.
Neither Russia nor North Korea, who have been strengthening security ties, has publicly confirmed the deployment of troops.
The Ukrainian military did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News on the number of North Korean soldiers that Seoul’s spy agency said had been killed in combat.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Ukraine was ready to exchange the captured North Korean soldiers for Ukrainians held in Russia, saying “there will undoubtedly be more.”
“It’s only a matter of time before our troops manage to capture others,” he said in a post on X alongside a short video said to show the two North Korean soldiers, whose capture was announced Saturday. “There should be no doubt left in the world that the Russian army is dependent on military assistance from North Korea.”
The video shows two men, one lying on a bed with bandages on his hands and another sitting with a bandage on his jaw.
NBC News was not able to independently verify the video.
