North Korean forces suffer 'significant losses' in Ukraine conflict, U.S. says

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North Korean forces suffer 'significant losses' in Ukraine conflict, U.S. says

Published: 17 Dec. 2024, 10:23 Updated: 17 Dec. 2024, 15:23

SEO JI-EUN
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Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

A screenshot of a video released on Nov. 5 shows North Korean soldiers reportedly training in Russia's western Kursk region. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The United States confirmed on Monday that North Korean forces have suffered "significant" casualties while fighting alongside Russian soldiers in Ukraine, marking the first official acknowledgment of their fatalities in the conflict.

“We do believe that they have suffered some significant losses, killed and wounded,” National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said at a press briefing. "But it's difficult for me to put an actual number on it. I would say, certainly in the realm of dozens, several dozens.”

Kirby’s remarks follow Ukrainian military intelligence reports earlier in the day that "at least 30 soldiers" had been killed or wounded while fighting in Russia's Kursk region, with "at least three" North Korean soldiers reported missing.

North Korea and Russia both signed and ratified a strategic partnership that includes mutual military aid in the event of an invasion, paving the way for Pyongyang to send its troops to fight along with Russian forces. Many of these soldiers have been deployed to Kursk, a region in western Russia that Ukraine took control of during a surprise attack in August.

“We’ve just started to see this movement of them from the second line to the front line,” Kirby added. “It’s a fairly new development, and we might be able to have a little bit more granularity as days go on.”

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller echoed the confirmation, noting that North Korean soldiers "have been killed in action on the battlefield inside Russia."

“In our view, the North Korean soldiers who were deployed to Kursk are already legitimate targets,” Miller said.

“They entered a war, and they are as such combatants that are legitimate targets for the Ukrainian military," he added. "If they were to cross the border into Ukraine, that would be yet another escalation by the government of Russia and also an escalation by the government of North Korea to send North Korean troops to prosecute a war of aggression against an independent sovereign nation inside that nation's borders.”

Earlier the same day, Pentagon Press Secretary Major Gen. Pat Ryder confirmed that North Korean forces had "suffered casualties, both killed and wounded."

Ryder estimated that North Korea had sent approximately 12,000 troops to Russia, who have been "integrated into Russian units" and are primarily being used in an "infantry role." North Korean troops were reportedly deployed to the battlefield “a little over a week ago,” though Ryder declined to provide specific casualty figures.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) said Tuesday they "have obtained intelligence from multiple sources" regarding the casualties among North Korean troops and are verifying the information "with the possibility that it is true" in response to the U.S. reports.

A screen capture from a video shared by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Dec. 17 reportedly shows a Russian soldier burning the face of a fallen North Korean troop to hide the identity. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of trying to hide the presence of the North Koreans and their losses on the battlefield by burning off the faces of the dead.

"There were attempts to keep the presence of soldiers from North Korea a secret," Zelenskyy said.

"While they were being trained, they were even forbidden to show their faces," he said. "And now, after the battles with our guys, the Russians are also trying to literally burn the faces of the killed North Korean soldiers."

Zelenskyy’s claims were accompanied by a video shared on his Telegram channel, with footage showing an object resembling a corpse burning in a forested area and a silhouette of a person standing nearby. The English captions in the video read, “Russians try to conceal the faces of North Korean soldiers even after their death.”

Update, Dec. 17: Numbers of reported North Korean casualties changed and information on Russian attempts to hide North Korean casualties added.

BY SEO JI-EUN [[email protected]]