According to South Korea, at least 100 North Koreans died in the Ukraine war

At least 100 North Korean soldiers have been killed in fighting in the Ukraine war since they entered combat on the Russian side earlier this month, a South Korean lawmaker said.

Lee Sung-kwon, speaking to reporters after parliament was informed by the country’s National Intelligence Agency, said another 1,000 had been injured.

He said the victims were senior officials, which could be explained by troops’ lack of familiarity with the terrain and drone warfare.

The first reports of North Korean casualties came earlier this week. In October it emerged that the North had sent 10,000 soldiers to assist Russia in its war effort.

On Monday, a U.S. Pentagon spokesman said North Koreans had been killed, without giving a number, and a day later an unnamed U.S. official said “several hundred” had been killed or wounded.

The BBC has not independently verified the claims.

The North Korean troops, none of whom have combat experience, are believed to have spent their first weeks in Russia training and then as support forces.

The casualties are believed to have occurred in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainians are defending a small area captured during an attack Surprise attack in August.

Last Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had begun using “significant numbers” of North Koreans in its attacks on Kursk.

They are not believed to have been deployed in Ukraine itself, where Russian troops have advanced into eastern parts of the country in recent months.

Lee Sung-kwon said there were reports of preparations for another deployment and that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could oversee the training.

He quoted intelligence officials as saying the high number of casualties could be attributed to an “unusual battlefield environment in which North Korean forces are deployed as expendable front-line attack units and their lack of ability to repel drone strikes.”

“Complaints have reportedly emerged within the Russian military that North Korean troops are becoming more of a liability than an asset due to their lack of knowledge about drones,” he added.

Neither Russia nor the North acknowledged the troop deployments, but a North Korean statement on Thursday carried by state news agency KCNA said the country’s alliance with Moscow “deters the United States and the West from maliciously expanding their influence.”