Latest news with #StormCorps
NDTV
30-04-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
Around 600 North Korean Soldiers Killed Fighting For Russia: Seoul Lawmaker
Seoul: Around 600 North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia against Ukraine have been killed and thousands more wounded, a Seoul lawmaker said Wednesday, after Pyongyang officially confirmed deploying troops to aid Moscow. "So far, North Korean troop casualties are estimated at around 4,700, including approximately 600 deaths," MP Lee Seong-kweun, a member of parliament's intelligence committee, told reporters after a briefing by the country's spy agency. North Korea confirmed for the first time Monday that it had deployed troops to Russia, with state news agency KCNA reporting Pyongyang's soldiers helped Moscow reclaim territory under Ukrainian control in the Russian border region of Kursk. Moscow had separately confirmed the North's participation, after months of official silence from both countries, even as Seoul and Washington accused Pyongyang of sending ever more troops and weapons to help. Some 2,000 soldiers have been taken back to nuclear-armed North Korea this year, Lee said, and were now reportedly being held in isolation in Pyongyang and at other locations across the country. "It is understood that the bodies of fallen soldiers were cremated locally in Kursk before being transported," back to the North, he added. North Korea "supported Russia's recapture of Kursk by deploying 18,000 troops in two phases," Lee said, adding that the number of clashes in the area had decreased since around March. Since then, "there have been reports of misconduct within North Korean forces, including excessive drinking and theft," he said. Combat capability 'significantly improved' South Korea has repeatedly slammed the troop deployment, and criticised the North for sending container-loads of weapons, including missiles, to aid Russia's war against Ukraine. The nuclear-armed North has received significant technical support from Russia in return, Seoul claimed. In addition, after six months of fighting, Seoul's National Intelligence Service estimates that the North Korean forces' "combat capability has significantly improved," Lee said. "Early inexperience has diminished and they have become more proficient in using new weapon systems, including drones," he said. Lee said it was not possible to "entirely rule out" that the North could send more soldiers to Russia. The troops sent to Russia, reportedly from North Korea's elite Storm Corps, have been ordered to kill themselves rather than be taken prisoner, Seoul has previously said. Moscow and Pyongyang have boosted their military cooperation since Russia launched its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The two countries signed a sweeping military deal last year, including a mutual defence clause, when Russian President Vladimir Putin made a rare visit to North Korea. Pyongyang launched a flurry of ballistic missiles last year in violation of UN sanctions. Experts have warned that the nuclear-armed North may be testing weapons for export to Russia for use against Ukraine.
CNA
30-04-2025
- Politics
- CNA
600 North Korean soldiers killed fighting for Russia: Seoul lawmaker
SEOUL: Around 600 North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia against Ukraine have been killed and thousands more wounded, a Seoul lawmaker said on Wednesday (Apr 30), after Pyongyang officially confirmed deploying troops to aid Moscow. "So far, North Korean troop casualties are estimated at around 4,700, including approximately 600 deaths," MP Lee Seong-kweun, a member of parliament's intelligence committee, told reporters after a briefing by the country's spy agency. North Korea confirmed for the first time Monday that it had deployed troops to Russia, with state news agency KCNA reporting Pyongyang's soldiers helped Moscow reclaim territory under Ukrainian control in the Russian border region of Kursk. Moscow had separately confirmed the North's participation, after months of official silence from both countries, even as Seoul and Washington accused Pyongyang of sending ever more troops and weapons to help. Some 2,000 soldiers have been taken back to nuclear-armed North Korea this year, Lee said, and were now reportedly being held in isolation in Pyongyang and at other locations across the country. "It is understood that the bodies of fallen soldiers were cremated locally in Kursk before being transported," back to the North, he added. North Korea "supported Russia's recapture of Kursk by deploying 18,000 troops in two phases", Lee said, adding that the number of clashes in the area had decreased since around March. Since then, "there have been reports of misconduct within North Korean forces, including excessive drinking and theft", he said. COMBAT CAPABILITY "SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED" South Korea has repeatedly slammed the troop deployment, and criticised the North for sending container-loads of weapons, including missiles, to aid Russia's war against Ukraine. The nuclear-armed North has received significant technical support from Russia in return, Seoul claimed. In addition, after six months of fighting, Seoul's National Intelligence Service estimates that the North Korean forces' "combat capability has significantly improved," Lee said. "Early inexperience has diminished and they have become more proficient in using new weapon systems, including drones," he said. Lee said it was not possible to "entirely rule out" that the North could send more soldiers to Russia. The troops sent to Russia, reportedly from North Korea's elite Storm Corps, have been ordered to kill themselves rather than be taken prisoner, Seoul has previously said. Moscow and Pyongyang have boosted their military cooperation since Russia launched its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The two countries signed a sweeping military deal last year, including a mutual defence clause, when Russian President Vladimir Putin made a rare visit to North Korea. Pyongyang launched a flurry of ballistic missiles last year in violation of UN sanctions.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
N Korea confirms it sent troops to fight for Russia in Ukraine war
North Korea has for the first time confirmed that it sent troops to fight for Russia against Ukraine. In a report on state news agency KCNA, Pyongyang's military claimed its soldiers helped Russian forces "completely liberate" the Kursk border region, according to an order given by leader Kim Jong Un. It comes just days after Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov praised the "heroism" of North Korean troops during a Russian counter-offensive, the first time Moscow has publicly acknowledged their involvement. He also claims Moscow regained full control of the country's western Kursk region - a claim denied by Ukraine. South Korean and Western intelligence have long reported that Pyongyang dispatched thousands of troops to Kursk last year. The decision to deploy troops was in accordance with a mutual defense treaty between Pyongyang and Moscow, said KCNA. "They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honour of the motherland," Kim said according to KCNA. North Korea and Russia demonstrated their "alliance and brotherhood" in Kursk, adding that a "friendship proven by blood" will greatly contribute to expanding the relationship "in every way". The KCNA did not say what would happen to the North Korean troops after their mission in Kursk has ended. Reports that North Korean soldiers had been deployed emerged in October, following the deepening of bilateral ties between Kim and Putin. This included the signing of an accord where both Rusisan leader Vladimir Putin and Kim agreed to support each other if either country was dealing with "aggression". In January, Western officials told the BBC they believed at least 1,000 of the 11,000 troops sent from North Korea had been killed over three months. The North Korean troops, reportedly from an "elite" unit called the Storm Corps, are said to be unprepared for the realities of modern warfare. "These are barely trained troops led by Russian officers who they don't understand," former British Army tank commander, Col Hamish de Bretton-Gordon had said earlier this year. Despite this, Ukraine's top military commander Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi had earlier also warned that North Korean soldiers were posing a significant problem for Ukrainian fighters on the front line. "They are numerous. An additional 11,000-12,000 highly motivated and well-prepared soldiers who are conducting offensive actions. They operate based on Soviet tactics. They rely on their numbers," the general told Ukraine's TSN Tyzhden news programme. Ukraine war in maps: How control has shifted in three years Don't underestimate North Korean troops in Russia, ex-soldiers tell BBC What we know about North Korean troops fighting Russia's war
Voice of America
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Voice of America
N. Koreans' high casualties in Ukraine blamed on inexperience
North Korean troops that joined Moscow's forces about four months ago in Russia's border region of Kursk are estimated to have suffered considerable casualties in the war against Ukraine, which analysts attribute to their lack of front-line combat experience. Numbers from different sources vary, but more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers are believed to have died or been injured while fighting Ukrainian forces. The South Korean National Intelligence Service cited the figure in mid-January, breaking it down to at least 300 killed and another 2,700 wounded. In an interview published Monday by South Korea's Chosun Daily, Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's military intelligence, said North Korean troops had suffered about 4,000 casualties. That would be one-third of the 12,000 North Korean soldiers who the U.S. in December estimated had been deployed to the Kursk region. A peace deal is being pushed by the Trump administration to end the war, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Frontal assaults "The North Korean military personnel fighting in the Kursk region are being used for frontal assaults without much military support such as artillery and armor and drones, against some of the very best Ukrainian forces," said Bruce Bennett, senior defense researcher at the Rand Corporation. "Many of the North Korean forces used by the Russians were trained to be special forces intended to penetrate into the enemy rear and operate there," he said. "Their North Korean training was not for frontal assaults, and they appear to not have been trained in Russia very well for such tactics, especially given the evolution of warfare to involve drones and other factors." If the Russians are using North Korean special operations forces as light infantry units, then "they are wasting their soldiers' lives" because they are not using the soldiers' special operations training, said David Maxwell, vice president of the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy. If the Ukrainian forces are "employing effective combined arms maneuver with integrated fire support, they will inflict tremendous damage against frontal assaults," he said. Another reason for high casualties among North Korean troops could be "communications problems if they are working under the command of Russian forces," Maxwell said. "The language challenge hinders interoperability and the ability of the Russians to provide support" to the North Koreans. Many of the North Korean troops deployed to Russia are reportedly from the regime's elite special forces unit known as the 11th Corps of the Korean People's Army, also known as the Storm Corps. Headquartered in Tokchon, North Korea, the Storm Corps is trained to infiltrate and sabotage enemy operations and assassinate targets. North Korea began sending troops to Russia in October. Former U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at the time that if the forces entered the war, it would be "a very, very serious issue" affecting not only Europe but also the Indo-Pacific region. The deployment of North Korean troops, in addition to the munitions the country had been sending to Russia since October 2023, represented an escalation of military ties between Pyongyang and Moscow and a dangerous expansion of Russia's war, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said in October. The same month, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun described North Korean troops as "mere cannon fodder mercenaries" for Russia's "illegal war of aggression." Russia has been using so-called meat-grinder tactics to fight Ukraine. The strategy involves mobilizing a large number of troops in a concentrated area of combat to bombard the enemy and break through its defenses. The attackers often suffer a high number of casualties. Escalation of conflict Ukrainian forces first reported encountering North Korean units on Nov. 5 in the Kursk region. Shortly afterward, Russia, reportedly using meat-grinder tactics, suffered a record number of casualties for the month. Russia suffered more than 2,000 casualties on Nov. 28 alone, which helped raise the average daily Russian casualties for the month to a new high of 1,523, according to the Institute for the Study of War, citing an analysis from the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense. Adding to the casualties are the lethal World War I-style combat tactics, such as heavy artillery bombardments and trench warfare, that have made a comeback in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Russians and North Koreans "are fighting in this horrible, almost World War I-style combat, where all sides, including the Ukrainians, are taking huge casualties" with "tons of artillery" and "missiles and rockets and tanks," said Bruce Bechtol, a professor focusing on East Asia and international security at Angelo State University in Texas. Since the start of the war, Russia is estimated to have incurred more than 860,000 casualties, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported Friday. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this week that more than 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed and about 380,000 had been injured over that same period. Bechtol, a former intelligence officer for the Defense Intelligence Agency, said North Korean and Russian casualties could have been "exaggerated," and it might not be possible to assess exact figures, even after the war ends. In October, neither Moscow nor Pyongyang denied the possibility of North Korean troop deployment to Russia, nor did either fully acknowledge that North Korean soldiers were fighting Ukrainian forces. Jeff Seldin contributed to this report.
