600 North Korean soldiers killed in war against Ukraine, their bodies cremated before being sent home – Seoul
About 600 North Korean soldiers, out of a total of 15,000, were killed fighting on the side of russia against Ukraine, South Korean lawmakers said, citing data from the country's intelligence agency, Reuters reports.
According to the lawmakers, North Korea has already lost about 4,700 soldiers, including wounded and dead, although its troops have shown signs of improving their combat capabilities over the past six months through the use of modern weapons, such as drones.
According to them, in exchange for sending troops and supplying weapons to russia, Pyongyang appears to have received technical assistance in the form of spy satellites, as well as drones and anti-aircraft missile systems.
"After six months of participation in the war, the North Korean military has become less inept, and their combat capability has improved significantly as they have become accustomed to using new weapons such as drones," Lee Seong-kweun, a member of the parliamentary intelligence committee, told reporters after a briefing by South Korea's National Intelligence Service.
Lee added that the bodies of the dead North Korean soldiers were cremated in Kursk before being sent home.
North Korean labor abroad is known as a source of foreign exchange for the regime, but UN sanctions prohibit the use of North Korean labor in third countries.
Recall that earlier russia publicly acknowledged for the first time the participation of North Korean troops in the war against Ukraine. They are fighting against the Ukrainian Defense Forces in the Kursk Oblast.
North Korea also confirmed the participation of North Korean troops in hostilities against Ukraine in the Kursk Oblast of russia.
After North Korea acknowledged providing its troops to the aggressor state of russia, the US State Department emphasized that third countries, including the DPRK, contributed to the "continuation" of the russian-Ukrainian war and "bear responsibility for this."