North Korea deploys additional forces to Russia’s Kursk Oblast: South Korean intelligence

An official from Seoul’s spy agency told AFP that “some additional troop deployments (are) appearing to have taken place,” into Russia’s Kursk Oblast, adding that other troops had been “redeployed” within the region.

No information was immediately available as to how many new troops were being sent into Russia, with the official adding that the “exact scale is still being assessed.”

Up to 12,000 North Korean troops were deployed to Kursk Oblast last fall to support Russian forces in countering a Ukrainian incursion launched in August 2024.

The New York Times reported on Jan. 30 that North Korean troops had been pulled from the front, a Special Operations Forces spokesperson confirmed to the Kyiv Independent that Ukraine’s special forces had not faced Pyongyang’s soldiers for three weeks.

Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov denied reports that North Korean soldiers have not been seen on the front line for weeks. However, Budanov noted that the number of North Korean troops has decreased, and Ukraine is trying to establish why.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Feb. 14 that North Korean troops fighting for Russia against Ukraine have suffered 4,000 casualties, two-thirds of whom have been killed.

Zelensky’s claim of the number killed is significantly higher than a Jan. 13 estimate from the NIS which said at least 300 North Korean soldiers have been killed and another 2,700 wounded.

The heavy losses of the North Korean army may be related to its lack of combat experience and the tactic of human waves attacks with a limited amount of equipment, Budanov said in an interview with The War Zone magazine published on Feb. 4.

Amid the gruelling offensive, Ukraine has continued to lose territory initially gained in the surprise Kursk incursion. Russia has claimed to have regained control of about 64% of the territory captured by Ukraine. The Ukrainian military has not commented on the claims, which could not be independently verified.