At least 100 North Korean soldiers stationed in Russia have been killed and 1,000 wounded in fighting against Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region, a South Korean lawmaker said today, citing intelligence data, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
The heavy losses are due to North Korean soldiers' lack of experience in conducting combat operations with drones and their unfamiliarity with the open terrain where they are engaged in the fighting, lawmaker Lee Song-kwon told reporters.
Yi was speaking after a closed briefing by the National Intelligence Service before parliament. The discrepancy in the estimate of dead soldiers with that made by a US military official, who put the number of casualties at several hundred, is due to the relatively conservative analysis of South Korean intelligence, Yi said.
There are indications that the North is preparing to send reinforcements, Yi said. According to US and South Korean officials, more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to help Russia in its war against Ukraine.