SEOUL, April 2 (Yonhap) -- North Korean troops have incurred more than 5,000 casualties while fighting Ukrainian forces in Russia's western front-line region of Kursk, Britain's defense ministry has said.
As of last month, approximately a third of the total casualties had been killed in action, according to an intelligence update posted on the ministry's X account Friday.
The casualty figure amounts to nearly half of the initial 11,000 troops North Korea sent to Russia last year in support of its war against Ukraine.
A wounded soldier, suspected to be North Korean and captured by Ukrainian forces in Russia's western Kursk region, is seen in this file photo posted on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's X account on Jan. 12, 2025. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
"Significant DPRK casualty rates have almost certainly been sustained primarily through large, highly attritional dismounted assaults," the ministry said, using the acronym of the North's official name -- the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
It noted North Korean and Russian forces have made territorial gains in Kursk in recent weeks, adding the North's operations have been confined to the region and any decision to deploy to Ukrainian territory would require a sign-off from the North's leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Last week, South Korea's military said North Korea is estimated to have sustained 4,000 casualties of the 11,000 troops dispatched last year, adding that the North appears to have sent 3,000 more troops to Russia in January and February.
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
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