"Over 1,500 North Korean Soldiers Deployed in Ukraine's 2nd Dispatch... Possibility of 3rd Dispatch"

Yoo Yongwon Meets with Head of Ukrainian Intelligence
"About 3,500 Undergoing Training in the Far East... Possibility of a Third Deployment"

The scale of North Korean troops deployed for the second time in the Ukraine war has reached about 1,500. The Ukrainian side reports that around 3,500 North Korean soldiers are undergoing training in the Russian Far East region and sees the possibility of a third deployment.

Yoo Yong-won, a member of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee from the People Power Party, announced on the 4th that he recently met with Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Ukrainian Intelligence Directorate, and was briefed on this matter. Yoo had previously visited Ukraine from the 23rd to the 26th of last month for a 3-night, 4-day schedule.

Yoo Yong-won, member of the People Power Party (right), and Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Ukrainian Intelligence Directorate (left), are taking a commemorative photo. Photo by Office of Yoo Yong-won

According to Yoo, North Korean troops were deployed to the Russian Far East region with about 12,000 personnel around October last year. After undergoing an average of 1.5 months of local adaptation training, they were deployed to combat in the Kursk region starting from November last year.

Among them, as of the 26th of last month, there were about 400 fatalities and about 3,600 wounded, totaling approximately 4,000 casualties. Of the wounded, about 300 have been treated and redeployed to the front lines.

The Ukrainian side estimates the scale of the second deployment of North Korean troops to be around 1,500. They have already completed local adaptation training and are being deployed near Kursk. The Ukrainian side also explains that there is a possibility of a third deployment, as currently about 3,500 North Korean troops are undergoing local adaptation training at five locations in the Russian Far East region.

Additionally, the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces assessed that five North Korean soldiers possess combat capabilities comparable to those of ten Russian soldiers. It is reported that they commonly evaluate these soldiers as having strong physical endurance, being composed of young men in their early 20s, and lacking fear.

Yoo explained, “In particular, a senior Ukrainian military official who briefed me said, ‘(North Korean troops) continue to recklessly attempt breakthroughs despite suffering many casualties. We cannot understand why they are so desperate.’”

Furthermore, Ukraine reported that after interrogating North Korean prisoners of war, their main assigned mission was to gain ‘modern warfare experience through actual combat.’ It is also noteworthy that analysis of captured tablet PCs revealed numerous materials related to casualty education, ideological education, and propaganda education.

Yoo argued that our military should send a combat experience analysis team to Ukraine. He said, “This is not about sending combat troops to participate in fighting, but about establishing countermeasures by understanding what strategies and tactics North Korea is employing in actual combat, how they are evolving through modern warfare experience, and the combat capabilities of the North Korean and Russian allied forces.”

Yoo also stated, “If dispatching active-duty soldiers is restricted, it is necessary to consider sending an organization composed of experienced reservists as an alternative.”

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