The North Koreans did get sent to go fight in a war so it should not be a surprise that they have wounded and killed:
This Dec. 16, 2024, screenshot shows a photo from the Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda of what it described to be Russian and North Korean soldiers killed in combat. It has been partially blurred.
The United States has indications that North Korean troops have suffered casualties, including fatalities, during combat alongside Russian forces against Ukraine, Reuters reported Monday, citing a Pentagon spokesperson.
Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder made the remarks as Kyiv’s intelligence authorities have said that some 200 Russian and North Korean soldiers were estimated to have been killed while fighting in combined units against Ukrainian forces.
“We do assess that North Korean soldiers have engaged in combat in Kursk … we do have indications that they have suffered casualties, both killed and wounded,” Ryder was quoted by Reuters as telling reporters. Kursk is Russia’s western front line.
Via a reader tip comes this news of a North Korean friendly fire incident in Ukraine. It is coming from Ukrainian intelligence so the usual caveats apply in regards to how true this story is:
Russian paramilitary soldiers were accidentally targeted and killed by North Korean troops in a recent bout of friendly fire, according to Ukrainian officials.
In a statement published on Saturday, the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) detailed how Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) soldiers have recently assisted Russian troops in the Kursk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Ukrainian forces. Ukrainian officials estimate that around 11,000 DPRK personnel are stationed in Russia.
“The aggressor state of Russia has begun to use DPRK soldiers in assault operations in the Kursk region, in particular, as part of the combined units of the marines and airborne troops of the Russian Armed Forces,” the statement read.
I wonder if Seoul will ever see this money paid back to them:
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal confirmed Friday that Ukraine has received a US$100 million loan from South Korea aimed at supporting the social sector.
In a post on social media X, Shmyhal said the loan is “the first budget assistance” from South Korea to support the social sector.
He said Ukraine also signed an agreement with South Korea granting access to up to $2.1 billion in funding earlier this year.
At this point I don’t know why Russia would want to disguise North Korea’s Soldiers. Everyone knows they are there:
A group of North Korean soldiers disguised as “indigenous people” of Russia’s Far East have engaged in combat with Ukrainian troops in Russia’s western border region of Kursk, according to a Ukraine news report.
Citing Kyiv’s top military officer, RBC Ukraine on Sunday (local time) reported that more than 11,000 North Korean soldiers are already stationed in the Kursk region and have take part in battles against Ukrainian troops.
“These are mostly general military units. They are disguised as indigenous people of the Far East. They have the appropriate documents,” Anatolii Barhylevych, the chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, was quoted as saying.
Who knows how true this is, but this is what Ukraine is claiming a missile strike into Russia’s Kursk province has caused:
A Ukrainian media outlet has reported that about 500 North Korean soldiers were killed in a missile strike by Kyiv in Russia’s western Kursk region.
Citing Global Defense Corp., a defense news publisher, RBC Ukraine said the North Korean soldiers were killed “as a result of the Storm Shadow missile strike on the Kursk region.”
South Korean and U.S. officials said North Korea sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia in support of its invasion against Ukraine.
This CNN report from Ukraine is just another example of how much of a failure sanctions on the North Korean regime have been:
CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh visits a warehouse storing missile fragments in Kyiv, where investigators discover US circuitry inside North Korean missiles after a deadly strike.
You can watch the full video at the link, but sanctions are not going to work with North Korea as long as China continues to allow goods to be smuggled in to sustain the regime.
As has been predicted here by myself and other ROK Heads, North Korean troops are being used to push Ukrainian troops out of Russia’s Kursk region:
The United States confirmed Tuesday that North Korean troops, who have been deployed to Russia’s western front-line Kursk region, have begun engaging in combat operations against Ukrainian forces.
Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the State Department, made the remarks amid growing concerns that the North’s troop deployment could expand Moscow’s protracted war in Ukraine with security implications for both Europe and the Indo-Pacific region. (…..)
“Today, I can confirm that over 10,000 DPRK soldiers have been sent to eastern Russia, and most of them have moved to far western Kursk Oblast, where they have begun engaging in combat operations with Russian forces,” he added.
You can read more at the link, but using the North Koreans to fight in Kursk makes sense because Russia would then not need to redeploy their own troops continuing their long grinding offensive in Ukraine.
The propaganda balloon wars between South and North Korea could now spread to Ukraine and Russia:
A group of North Korean defectors delivered propaganda leaflets to Ukraine on Monday, encouraging North Korean soldiers deployed in Russia to defect, as thousands of North Korean troops have been sent to support Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The “Defectors’ Propaganda Corps,” comprising North Korean soldiers-turned-defectors and defectors whose sons served in the North Korean military, delivered the propaganda leaflets to the Embassy of Ukraine in Seoul for the distribution to North Korean soldiers in Russia, the group said.
The leaflets carry messages encouraging North Korean troops to defect, along with instructions on how to defect. Audio files with similar messages were also delivered to the embassy.
You can read more at the link, but if Ukraine sends propaganda balloons towards North Korean troops in Russia, I wonder if Kim Jong-un will have his troops send garbage balloons into Ukraine in response?
