‘They’ve overcome the shock’ — North Korean soldiers adapting to war in Russia’s Kursk Oblast

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un toast during a reception at the Mongnangwan Reception House in Pyongyang, North Korea on June 19, 2024. (Vladimir Smirnov/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
THE KYIV INDEPENDENT | Published January 17, 2025

Since December, North Korean troops have been taking part in active combat on Russia’s side in the country’s Kursk Oblast, where Ukraine has held territory since August.

This unprecedented move, made against the backdrop of a deepening Moscow-Pyongyang alliance, provided some insight into how North Korean troops fare in modern warfare.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Jan. 9 that North Korea had suffered 4,000 soldiers killed or wounded while fighting for Russia against Ukraine. A week later, South Korea’s intelligence agency placed North Korean losses at 300 killed and 2,700 injured.

South Korea’s intelligence agency placed North Korean losses at 300 killed and 2,700 injured.

Though these claims cannot be independently verified, experts interviewed by the Kyiv Independent for this article believe the figures to be credible. This means that up to one-third of the 12,000-strong North Korean contingent sent to aid Russia’s war have been killed or injured.

But despite gaps in knowledge and experience, observers acknowledge that the North Koreans have proven to be committed, even fanatical fighters.

As a testament of their will to fight and die in war a continent away, Ukraine has so far managed to capture only two North Korean soldiers — the others reportedly commit suicide or are killed by their comrades to avoid falling into captivity.

A North Korean POW captured by Ukrainian forces as seen in a photo published on Jan. 11, 2025. A North Korean POW captured by Ukrainian forces during hostilities in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, as seen in a photo published on Jan. 11, 2025. (President Volodymyr Zelensky/Telegram)

What's behind North Korean losses?

Though Ukraine reported the first limited clashes with North Korean troops in Kursk Oblast in early November 2024, full-fledged combat deployment in ground assaults can be traced to mid-December.

North Korean soldiers have joined Russian efforts in retaking Ukrainian-held territory in Kursk Oblast, held since early August 2024. Since then, Kyiv’s forces began churning out footage of North Korean soldiers being hunted down by FPV drones or killed by Ukrainian fire as reports of casualties mounted.

Despite the training and equipment Russia provided to its new allies, North Korean troops proved ill-prepared for the realities of modern warfare, lacking the experience of their Russian and Ukrainian counterparts.

“North Korean troops are being ‘consumed’ for front-line assaults in an unfamiliar battlefield environment of open fields, and they lack the ability to respond to drone attacks,” said a South Korean official briefed by his country’s intelligence agency in December.

The high casualty rates can also be attributed to the “human wave” tactic mirroring Russian attacks in eastern Ukraine as North Korean soldiers are funneled against fortified Ukrainian defenses. The battlefield environment in Russia’s war against Ukraine has been especially deadly, with Russia itself suffering between 600,000-800,000 casualties throughout the full-scale invasion, according to Ukrainian sources.

Speaking to the Kyiv Independent, defense expert Viktor Kevliuk said that the purpose of the North Korean contingent is to “solve tactical tasks that involve a high level of losses.”

losses.”

“The purpose of the North Korean contingent is to “solve tactical tasks that involve a high level of losses.”

Similarly, White House spokesperson John Kirby noted that North Korea employs “massed dismounted assaults” which “haven’t really been that effective” and result in “heavy casualties.”

“At night, small, overstretched groups (10-15 soldiers) come in, accumulate, and then enter the village from different directions,” a Ukrainian soldier fighting near Sudzha told the Kyiv Independent on Jan. 6, confirming that North Korean assaults resemble the infamous “human wave” tactics.

 A soldier fixes a drone underground at a Ukrainian military position in Kursk Oblast, Russia, Aug. 18, 2024.A soldier fixes a drone underground in a Ukrainian military position in Ukrainian-controlled territory in Kursk Oblast, Russia on Aug. 18, 2024. (Ed Ram / For The Washington Post / Getty Images)
Oleksandr of the 82nd Brigade's intelligence shows a video of his unit's drone destroying Russian equipment in Sumy, Ukraine, Nov. 6, 2024.Oleksandr, who serves in the intelligence of the 82nd brigade that participates in the Kursk incursion, shows a video of his unit’s drone destroying Russian equipment in Sumy, Ukraine on Nov. 6, 2024. (Oksana Parafeniuk for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“I think these columns are entirely Koreans, they come in, and then they are replaced by Russians already in the positions they occupy.”

Sydney Seiler, a senior advisor at the Center of Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and former U.S. intelligence officer for North Korea, told the Kyiv Independent that “cards (have been) stacked against” North Korean soldiers from the beginning.

“And when you throw on top of that command and control language differences and just the fact that this is high casualty warfare,” the current casualty rates are to be expected, the expert said.

Western and Ukrainian officials nevertheless acknowledged that the “indoctrinated” North Korean soldiers, including elite “Storm Corps” units, showed high resolve and continued attacking no matter the casualties or chances of success.

South Korea’s intelligence agency recently said that the North Korean soldiers chose suicide rather than falling into captivity, ramping up the losses even further.

A video published by Special Operations Forces of Ukraine on Jan. 13, showed Ukrainian troops taking part in active combat with allegedly North Korean troops in Russia’s Kursk Oblast. In one instance, the video captures a soldier fighting against Ukrainian troops committing suicide.

 

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SOURCE: www.kyivindependent.com

 

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