Zelensky: "Over 3,000 North Korean Casualties in Russian Kursk"

Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, announced on the 23rd (local time) that the number of casualties among North Korean troops who fought in the western Kursk region of Russia has exceeded 3,000.

Yonhap News

According to major foreign media including AFP, President Zelensky wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that "preliminary data shows that the number of North Korean troops killed or wounded in the Kursk region has already surpassed 3,000." He also added that he received a report on the situation in Kursk from Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and warned that North Korea poses a risk of sending more troops and military equipment to Russia.

The estimated number of North Korean casualties he mentioned is much higher than the figure previously disclosed by South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Joint Chiefs announced in their 'Recent North Korean Military Trends' report that they confirmed over 1,100 casualties among North Korean troops deployed to Russia based on information and intelligence from multiple sources, and that North Korea is currently preparing for troop rotations or reinforcements.

U.S. military officials stated that North Korean casualties on the Kursk front number in the hundreds. South Korean intelligence agencies have estimated that some of the approximately 11,000 North Korean troops deployed in the Kursk region began actual combat operations in December, resulting in at least 100 deaths and about 1,000 wounded.

The Ukrainian military launched a surprise attack on Kursk, a southwestern border area of Russia, in August and has occupied parts of the region. As Russia has mobilized large forces, including North Korean troops, to attempt to retake Kursk, fierce clashes continue between the two sides. Ukrainian authorities estimate that North Korea has dispatched about 12,000 troops to Russia.

President Zelensky warned that the strengthening of military cooperation between North Korea and Russia poses a serious threat to global security and urged allied countries to respond more strongly. He said, "Globally, the cost of restoring stability is always much higher than the cost of effectively deterring those who destabilize the situation and destroy lives."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.