The corresponding assessment of the intelligence services in the Republic of Korea (South Korea) was made in connection with Seoul’s information about North Korea sending thousands of soldiers to Russia, which is conducting large-scale military aggression against Ukraine. And with losses among North Korean military personnel during the fighting.
According to the South Korean intelligence service, the number of casualties among the North Korean military is now estimated at about 1,100 people (it is not specified if we are talking about dead or wounded, or generally about medical and aviation losses combined).
“A comprehensive assessment of multiple intelligence findings indicates that North Korea is preparing to rotate or augment troops (to Russia) while delivering 240 mm multiple rocket launchers and 170 mm self-propelled artillery,” the Joint Committee on Staff (JCS) said in a statement. Monday, December 23.
The South Korean military also said there are “certain indications” that North Korea is moving toward the production and delivery of kamikaze drones, which were “first presented during an inspection by Kim Jong-un (North Korea’s leader) in November.”
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff attributed the move to Pyongyang’s desire to gain practical experience in warfare and modernize its conventional weapons system.
North Korean state media reported last month that Kim Jong Un oversaw the testing of various types of kamikaze drones.
The North Korean dictator then also called for full-scale production of this type of weapon, which is becoming increasingly important in modern warfare due to its cost-effectiveness.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects kamikaze drone tests on November 14 (Photo: Yonhap)
North Korea’s aid to Russia in the war against Ukraine
Let’s remember that the Russian Federation is actively strengthening military-economic ties with North Korea, which began supplying Moscow with ammunition and missiles last year. And at the beginning of the summer, the dictators of both countries, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un, signed an agreement on a comprehensive strategic partnership.
According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine as of December, The Russian Federation has already used around 60 KN-23 ballistic missiles during attacks against Ukraine North Korean made.
Last fall, it became known that North Korea had transferred more than ten thousand of its troops to Russia. A certain part has already been sent to the Kursk region, where North Korean soldiers, together with the Russian army, are fighting against the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
As the head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Andrey Kovalenko said on December 18, North Korean troop losses in the Kursk region already exceed 200 people.
On 19 December, British intelligence reported that it had recorded significant losses of North Korean troops in the Kursk region. On December 20, South Korean intelligence announced that at least 100 North Korean soldiers in Russia have already diedand another 1,000 were injured during fighting with Ukrainian armed forces in the Kursk region.
At the same time, the Pentagon appreciates it The losses of the North Korean contingent have already amounted to about “two hundred”. The US Department of Defense predicts that they will increase.
Let’s add that Defense Express reported it yesterday The Russian Federation can receive ballistics from North Korea flying more than 1000 km. In fact, the other day a video appeared on the Internet in which another train with weapons and military equipment from North Korea was filmed in the Tyumen region.
