Seoul: At least 300 North Korean soldiers dispatched to support Moscow's war in Ukraine have been killed, with some 2,700 others injured, South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers Monday. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) shared the information with lawmakers during a closed-door meeting by the parliamentary intelligence committee, according to Rep. Lee Seong-kweun of the ruling People Power Party.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the NIS attributed the "massive casualties" of North Korean soldiers to their "lack of understanding of modern warfare," including their "useless" act of shooting at long-range drones, based on the agency's analysis of a combat video it obtained recently. The spy agency also noted that North Korea has instructed its soldiers to kill themselves to avoid being captured alive by the Ukrainian military.
On Ukraine's recent video release of two wounded North Korean soldiers in Russia's western Kursk region, Lee mentioned, "The prisoner of war has not expressed his intention to come to South Korea." In the nearly three-minute footage released by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on X on Sunday, one of the soldiers stated he wants to remain in Ukraine when asked if he wishes to return home.
The NIS assessed that the two soldiers were with the Reconnaissance General Bureau, a key North Korean military intelligence agency.