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)
A TV screen shows a file image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, April 28, 2025.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
About 4,700 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded fighting for Russia, South Korea says
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) 鈥 An estimated 4,700 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded while fighting alongside Russia against Ukrainian forces, South Korea鈥檚 spy agency told lawmakers Wednesday.
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)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) 鈥 An estimated 4,700 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded while fighting alongside Russia against Ukrainian forces, South Korea鈥檚 spy agency told lawmakers Wednesday.
The assessment came two days after for the first time that it had sent combat troops to help Russia recapture parts of , 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.
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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 鈥渁nnihilate and wipe out the Ukrainian neo-Nazi occupiers and liberate in cooperation with the Russian armed forces.鈥 Russian President Vladimir Putin later issued a statement thanking North Korea and promising not to forget the sacrifices of North Korean soldiers.
Both Kim and Putin said the North Korean deployment was made under , 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 to replenish Russia鈥檚 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 last fall. South Korea’s military said in March that North Korea sent about to Russia earlier this year.
During its Wednesday briefing, the NIS said it assessed that Russia has given North Korea 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鈥檛 detected signs that Russia has sent North Korea cash remittances for them.
