Hundreds of North Korean troops killed fighting Ukraine, Seoul says

“After six months of participation in the war, the North Korean military has become less inept, and its combat capability has significantly improved as it becomes accustomed to using new weapons such as drones,” Lee Seong-kweun, a member of the parliamentary intelligence committee, told reporters, after being briefed by South Korea’s National Intelligence Service.

Pyongyang earlier this week confirmed for the first time that it had sent troops to fight for Russia in the war against Ukraine under orders from leader Kim Jong Un and that it had helped regain control of Russian territory occupied by Ukraine.

Captured North Korean soldiers provide glimpse into fighting against Ukraine

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North Korea’s unprecedented deployment of thousands of troops, as well as massive amounts of artillery ammunition and missiles, gave Russia a crucial battlefield advantage in the western Kursk region and has brought the two economically and politically isolated countries closer.

Lee, the lawmaker, added that bodies of dead North Korean soldiers were cremated in Kursk before being shipped back home.

Pyongyang is also believed to have sent about 15,000 workers to Russia, said the lawmakers, citing intelligence assessments.

North Korean labor overseas is known as a source of the regime’s hard currency income, but U.N. sanctions prohibit the use of North Korean labor in third countries.