About 600 North Korean soldiers are believed to have died fighting for Russia against Ukraine, South Korea's intelligence agency told lawmakers on Wednesday, adding that more than 4,000 North Korean soldiers were also wounded, Yonhap reports, UNN writes.
Details
The National Intelligence Service of South Korea (NIS) made the assessment during a closed-door briefing to the National Assembly's intelligence committee two days after North Korea confirmed for the first time that Pyongyang had sent troops to Russia to support Moscow's war against Ukraine.
"North Korea sent about 15,000 soldiers to Russia, and there were about 4,700 casualties, including about 600 deaths," the NIS told lawmakers, according to representatives Lee Sung-gwen of the People's Party and Kim Byung-kee of the Democratic Party.
North Korea transferred its troops to Russia in two stages, and fighting has subsided since April after Moscow regained most of the frontline Kursk region, lawmakers said, citing the NIS.
The country's intelligence agency has not yet detected any signs of a new deployment of troops by North Korea, but has not ruled out such a possibility, they said.
In January, the NIS told lawmakers that at least 300 North Korean soldiers sent to Russia had been killed and about 2,700 wounded.
In exchange for deploying troops and exporting weapons to Russia, the South Korean intelligence agency believes North Korea has received a launch pad for spy satellites, drones, electronic warfare equipment and SA-22 surface-to-air missiles.
The two countries are also in talks to modernise industry in 14 sectors, including aviation, energy and tourism, and about 15,000 North Korean workers will be sent to Russia, the NIS report said.
The NIS also believes there is a high probability that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will not attend the ceremony in Russia on 9 May, citing the lack of security measures if Kim attends.
The report said efforts to organise Kim's visit to Russia may be resumed, amid the fact that relations between the two countries have reached a new "turning point" after they confirmed the sending of North Korean troops to Russia.
Addition
On Monday, North Korea confirmed for the first time that it had deployed troops to Russia after a senior Russian general also confirmed this during video talks with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on Saturday.