British intel announces number of North Korean soldiers killed near Kursk
DPRK troops lost a third of their personnel in Kursk region (Photo: Getty Images)
As of mid-January 2025, DPRK forces had lost 4,000 people in offensive combat operations against Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region. Of these, about a quarter were killed in action, according to the UK Ministry of Defense.
The report noted that the total losses are more than a third of the approximately 11,000 DPRK troops deployed in the Kursk region.
According to British intelligence, the high level of DPRK losses in a short period of time has almost certainly significantly impaired the ability of DPRK forces to conduct offensive combat operations in support of Russia's attempts to dislodge Ukrainian forces from the Kursk region.
“Despite significant combat casualties, DPRK troops have only achieved tactical gains in Kursk. Russian and DPRK forces are almost certainly experiencing interoperability difficulties. The two forces do not share a common language, and DPRK troops almost certainly have difficulties integrating into Russia's command-and-control structure,” the British Ministry of Defense said.
Last fall, North Korea sent about 11,000 soldiers to help Moscow's troops in the Kursk region in southern Russia, where the Ukrainian Armed Forces seized the territory after a surprise operation last summer.
A senior US Defense Department official told The New York Times that the DPRK will send new soldiers to the front, and reinforcements are expected “within the next two months.”
North Korea's 1.2 million-strong armed forces are among the largest standing armies in the world.
