North Korea has sent more soldiers to Russia, and redeployed those already there to the front line in the western Kursk region, which has been occupied by Ukraine, South Korea's intelligence agency said, the BBC reported today.
The report said the exact number of additional troops sent was unknown, but South Korean media said they believed it was at least 1.000. Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang confirmed the information.
South Korea's intelligence agency also said Thursday that North Korean troops already in Russia were redeployed to the Kursk front line in early February "after about a month of lulls."
North Korea is believed to have suffered heavy casualties since its troops were sent to help Russia in its war with Ukraine. In January, Western officials told the BBC that they believed at least 1.000 of the 11.000 troops sent from North Korea had died in the past three months.
Earlier reports from South Korean intelligence agencies suggested that North Korean soldiers were unprepared for modern warfare and particularly vulnerable to Ukrainian drones. However, military experts told the BBC that the troops should not be underestimated.
Last August, Ukraine invaded Russia's Kursk region. Russia has been trying to drive them out ever since. Although the territory controlled by the Ukrainians has steadily shrunk since then, partly due to the arrival of North Koreans in Russia in October, they still occupy hundreds of square kilometers of Russian territory.
The first reports of North Korean soldiers arrived in October, following the signing of a security and defense agreement between Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
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