US official confirms North Korean casualties in Russia’s Kursk
US defense official’s confirmation comes after media report of 500 North Koreans killed by British missiles.
TAIPEI, Taiwan – A U.S. official confirmed to RFA Korean service that North Korean troops deployed in Russia have suffered casualties, the first U.S. confirmation after media reported that 500 North Koreans had been killed in a Ukrainian attack with British missiles last week.
The unidentified official from the U.S. Department of Defense familiar with the situation said casualties among North Korean troops have occurred in the Kursk region of Russia, adding that it was caused by an airstrike by the Ukrainian army, RFA Korean reported on Tuesday.
Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary said earlier that the defense department could not independently confirm reports about North Korean casualties, although South Korea’s main security agency said it had “specific intelligence” that North Korean forces in Russia had suffered casualties. It did not provide any estimated toll.
Videos circulated by pro-Russian war bloggers indicated that up to 12 British Storm Shadow missiles struck a target believed to be a command headquarters in the village of Maryno on Wednesday last week.
The site might have been used by North Korean and Russian officers, the defense news publisher Global Defense Corp reported, adding that 500 North Koreans had been killed in a Ukrainian attack.
Separately, The Wall Street Journal, citing Western officials, said the attack on the command headquarters also killed one high-level North Korean official.
The U.S. and South Korea have said that North Korean troops had been fighting in Kursk against Ukrainian forces who occupied parts of the Russian region in early August. The U.S. has estimated that more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers had been sent to Kursk and they had begun combat operations alongside Russian forces.
Neither Russia nor North Korea have confirmed the presence of North Korean troops.
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Ukraine envoys in South Korea
Special envoys from Ukraine, led by its defense minister Rustem Umerov, arrived in Seoul on Wednesday to meet South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol, media reported.
They are expected to share information about the North Korean deployment and request arms support for Ukraine, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Yoon previously said that while Seoul had provided humanitarian and economic support to Ukraine, in line with a South Korean convention of not supplying arms to active conflict zones, the situation has changed with the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia.
Russia warned that it would respond strongly if South Korea supplies weapons to Ukraine, saying it would “fully destroy relations between the two countries.”
Edited by RFA Staff.
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