Seoul says 300 North Korean soldiers killed and 2,700 wounded in fighting in Ukraine | News of the war between Russia and Ukraine

Casualties among North Koreans helping Russia have exceeded 3,000, according to South Korea’s intelligence agency.

A South Korean parliamentarian said that about 300 North Korean soldiers were killed while fighting in the Russian war against Ukraine.

In addition to the 300 deaths, there are about “2,700 infections,” Lee Seung-kwon told reporters on Monday, after a briefing by Seoul’s National Intelligence Service (NIS).

“The deployment of North Korean forces in Russia is said to have expanded to include the Kursk region, with estimates indicating that North Korean troop casualties exceed 3,000,” Lee said.

The lawmaker added that the National Intelligence Service’s analysis also revealed that North Korean soldiers “lack understanding of modern warfare” and that Russia is using them in a way that leads to “high casualty numbers.”

The South Korean politician’s statement comes days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Kiev had done so Two North Korean soldiers capturedHe posted a video of the injured fighters being interrogated.

Zelensky said Kiev is “ready to hand over” captured North Korean soldiers in exchange for Ukrainian prisoners of war being held in Russia.

Seoul previously claimed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent more than 10,000 troops as “cannon fodder” to help Moscow fight Kiev, in exchange for Russian technical assistance for Pyongyang’s heavily sanctioned weapons and satellite programs.

Russia has neither confirmed nor denied their presence.

No desire to defect

The National Intelligence Agency said the two captured soldiers had not expressed a request to defect or resettle in South Korea, according to two lawmakers who attended a news conference on Monday.

The agency said it was ready to discuss the matter with Ukrainian authorities if the soldiers eventually requested to go to South Korea.

About 34,000 North Koreans defected to capitalist rival South Korea to avoid economic hardship and political repression at home, most of them since the late 1990s.

Ko Byungsam, spokesman for South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said facilitating asylum for North Korean soldiers would require “legal reviews, including international law, and consultations with relevant countries.”

“There is nothing we can say at the present stage,” Ko said.

Furthermore, Lee said the soldiers, who are said to belong to North Korea’s Special Storm Corps, were ordered to kill themselves rather than be captured.

He added: “It is worth noting that the diaries found with the deceased soldiers indicate that the North Korean authorities pressured them to commit suicide or blow themselves up before they were arrested.”

He added that some soldiers received “amnesty” or wanted to join North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, hoping to improve their situation through combat.

A North Korean soldier who was about to be captured shouted “General Kim Jong Un” and tried to detonate a grenade, Lee said, adding that he was shot and killed.