600 North Korean troops killed the fight for Russia against Ukraine, says South Korea, says South Korea

Around 600 North Korean soldiers were killed together with Russian armed forces during the fight, the South Korean legislator Lee Seong-Kweun said on April 30th, citing the country's briefing, Reuters reported.

Lee, member of the South Korean Parliamentary Committee, said that North Korea had suffered a total of around 4,700 victims, including dead and wounded.

Despite earlier losses and poor equipment, North Korean troops have improved their fighting over six months by introducing modern weapons, especially drones.

“After six months of participation in the war, the North Korean military has become less incapable of being improved, and its ability to fight has improved considerably because it got used to the use of new weapons such as drones,” Lee told reporters.

The Russian chief of staff, Valery Gerasimov, publicly admitted on April 26 that North Korean soldiers fought in Kursk Oblast to help Russia recaptured the territory confiscated by Ukraine during a cross -border offensive in August 2024. Pyongyang followed shortly afterwards.

The campaign aimed at disturbing the Russian preparations for an attack on Sumy Oblast and leading the Kremlin forces in Donetsk Oblast from the front.

Kyiv and Seoul previously estimated that around 11,000 North Korean troops were originally used to the region, although Moscow had so far officially confirmed their presence.

In return for troops and arms deliveries in Moscow, according to the South Korean secret services, Pyongyang seems to have received technical support for spy satellites as well as drones and anti-air rockets.

President Volodymyr Zelensky previously said that North Korean units fought for Russia had suffered around 4,000 victims in about two thirds.

On April 28, the Russian news agency TASS, which allegedly showed the training of North Korean soldiers together with Russian troops in Kursk Oblast.

Tammy Bruce, spokeswoman for the US State Department, said on April 29 that North Korea was responsible for the ongoing bloodshed in Ukraine due to his support for the Russian effort.

“North Korea's military commitment in Russia and all support from the Russian Federation for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DVRK) has to end in return,” said Bruce.

“Russia's training of North Korean soldiers violates the resolutions of the Security Council 1718, 1874 and 2270, which jointly impose a broad ban on providing or maintaining military training or support for or from the DVRK.”