N. Korea sends 3,500 more soldiers to Russia for training, third deployment ‘possible’, Seoul claims
North Korea has sent some 3,500 more soldiers to Russia's Far East for training at five military sites there, and there is a possibility of a third wave of the North's troop dispatch to front lines to aid Russia's war against Ukraine, a South Korean lawmaker who recently visited Kyiv said Wednesday.
Rep. Yu Yong-weon of the ruling People Power Party made the remarks in a statement, citing intelligence he was briefed on from Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, chief of the defense intelligence of Ukraine, during his trip to the country on Feb. 23-26, News.Az reports, citing Yonhap.
Yu said there were "some 3,500 North Korean soldiers who are undergoing field adaptation training in five locations in Russia's Far East, and there is a possibility of a third deployment."
Earlier in the day, Yu told CBS radio that around 1,500 North Korean soldiers who were believed to be additionally deployed to Russia have been already on front lines to aid Russia's war against Ukraine, citing Ukraine's defense intelligence agency.
"The second batch of (North Korean) troops is approximately 1,500 soldiers, and they have already been deployed near Russia's Kursk region after completing adaptation training," Yu said in the statement.
North Korea reportedly sent around 11,000 troops to Russia in October last year, and deployed additional forces between January and February this year.
(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with lawmaker's statement; CHANGES headline)
By Yi Wonju
SEOUL, March 5 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has sent some 3,500 more soldiers to Russia's Far East for training at five military sites there, and there is a possibility of a third wave of the North's troop dispatch to front lines to aid Russia's war against Ukraine, a South Korean lawmaker who recently visited Kyiv said Wednesday.
Rep. Yu Yong-weon of the ruling People Power Party made the remarks in a statement, citing intelligence he was briefed on from Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, chief of the defense intelligence of Ukraine, during his trip to the country on Feb. 23-26.
Yu said there were "some 3,500 North Korean soldiers who are undergoing field adaptation training in five locations in Russia's Far East, and there is a possibility of a third deployment."
Earlier in the day, Yu told CBS radio that around 1,500 North Korean soldiers who were believed to be additionally deployed to Russia have been already on front lines to aid Russia's war against Ukraine, citing Ukraine's defense intelligence agency.
"The second batch of (North Korean) troops is approximately 1,500 soldiers, and they have already been deployed near Russia's Kursk region after completing adaptation training," Yu said in the statement.
North Korea reportedly sent around 11,000 troops to Russia in October last year, and deployed additional forces between January and February this year.
According to Yu, Ukraine's defense intelligence agency reported approximately 400 North Koreans have been killed, while some 3,600 have been injured, among which 300 have recovered and returned to the front lines.
Ukraine estimated around 63,000 Russian and North Korean troops to be fighting as a joint unit in Kursk, while some units were solely made up of North Koreans.
North Koreans were often seen trying to borrow mobile phones from Russian soldiers, and analysis of tablet computers used by the North Koreans contained a large volume of propaganda and ideological training materials, he said.
Yu also shared the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces' assessment that five North Korean soldiers showed combat capabilities equivalent to ten Russian soldiers, noting their high endurance and lack of fear as key traits.
"I heard from the Ukrainian government that additional troops were being deployed to replenish (the force) and that another group of troops is preparing for deployment," Yu told CBS radio.
On North Korean military casualties, Yu said Ukraine estimated about 4,000 casualties, compared with South Korea's 3,600, with around 10 percent of them presumed to be deaths.
"Since it didn't make sense that there are over 3,000 injured soldiers yet only two have been captured as prisoners of war, I asked if there were more, but the Ukrainian side said there were none," he said. "They explained that many of the wounded soldiers resorted to self-destruction."
Yu also released an audio clip of his talks with a wounded soldier captured by Ukrainian forces in January during combat against Kyiv in Russia's Kursk region.
In a rare glimpse into the North's military, the soldier said North Korean troops went through intense physical training, running up to eight hours with backpacks that weigh between 20 to 25 kilograms.
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