UK Defence Intelligence has analysed that as of January 2025, North Korea has already lost about 4,000 military personnel in the Russian-Ukrainian war who took part in the fighting in Russiaʼs Kursk Oblast.

South Korea's military said on Friday that it suspects North Korea is preparing to send more troops to Russia to fight Ukrainian forces, even after suffering losses and seeing some of its soldiers captured.

A South Korean lawmaker said Seoul's intelligence showed some 3,000 North Korean troops have been wounded or killed in Kursk.

A third of the troops North Korea deployed to western Russia’s Kursk Oblast late last year has been killed or wounded, according to Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelensky. Col. Ants Kiviselg, the head of the Estonian defense forces’ intelligence center, confirmed the claim.

North Korea will send reinforcements to join its troops fighting alongside Russia against Ukraine in the next two months, The New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing a senior U.S. Department of Defense official.

South Korea suspects North Korea is preparing to send more troops to Russia despite heavy losses and prisoner captures in Ukraine.

North Korea troops have been helping Russian forces as they seek to push Ukrainian soldiers out of Russia’s Kursk region.

Ukraine's military said 21 troops were killed and 40 injured in the operation in the Russian region where it is staging an incursion.

Russia has responded to the recent ultimatum issued by the U.S., urging an end to the war in Ukraine. This ultimatum came from Donald Trump, who called on Russia to engage in peace talks or face severe consequences.

North Korea's disguised rocket launchers. North Korea has sent rocket launchers disguised as civilian trucks to Russia to support the combined Russian-North Korean force battling an incursion by Ukrainian troops.

Pyongyang's monthly troop losses could skyrocket if it deploys more troops to the frontlines in Kursk and continues sustaining high losses.