South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) reports North Korean troops deployed to support Russia’s war against Ukraine have not participated in combat operations in Russia’s Kursk Oblast since mid-January 2025.
The South Korea’s Intelligence confirmed The New York Times’ report that North Korean soldiers were withdrawn from the front line in mid-January due to significant losses.
The intelligence agency said that significant casualties are one of the reasons for their absence, though it says efforts continue to determine the exact cause.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Associated Press that of three North Korean brigades, “one was completely destroyed” while two others suffered heavy losses.
The United States, South Korea, and Ukraine estimate 10,000 to 12,000 North Korean troops arrived in Russia in October. Moscow and Pyongyang never confirmed their direct participation in combat.
Ukraine reported capturing two North Korean soldiers in the Kursk Oblast on 11 January. South Korean intelligence confirmed this capture, citing one prisoner’s account of “significant” casualties among North Korean soldiers. The captured soldier reported going without food and water for four-five days before his capture.
On 9 January 2025, at Germany’s Ramstein Air Base, Zelenskyy said that North Korean casualties had reached 4,000 troops.
The Institute for the Study of War reported that North Korea could lose its entire contingent of approximately 12,000 troops stationed in Kursk through casualties by mid-April 2025. Sources expect North Korea to deploy new troops to Russia by mid-March.
Zelenskyy said on 2 February that a Ukrainian strike on a Russian command post in Kursk Oblast on 31 January resulted in dozens of casualties among both Russian and North Korean officers.
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