The number of North Korean military casualties deployed to the Russia-Ukraine war is estimated to have exceeded 6,000, according to the UK Defence Intelligence (DI) on June 15 (local time).
In its daily report posted on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on the same day, DI stated, "It is highly likely that the number of North Korean casualties who conducted combat operations against Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk region exceeds 6,000."
DI added, "This total casualty figure is more than half of the approximately 11,000 North Korean troops deployed to Kursk. According to open-source information, North Korea appears to have subsequently deployed a limited number of additional troops to Kursk. It is almost certain that the high casualty rate among North Korean forces has been primarily caused by highly attritional, large-scale infantry assault operations."
DI also commented on the June 4 visit by Sergei Shoigu, Secretary of the Russian Security Council, to North Korea, where he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, stating, "Shoigu was highly likely to have played a key negotiating role regarding North Korea's support for Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine."
DI further stated, "So far, North Korea's operations have been limited to Kursk," and added, "Any decision to deploy North Korean troops to areas internationally recognized as Ukrainian territory to assist Russian forces would almost certainly require the approval of both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chairman Kim."
According to DI's official website, DI uses the term "highly likely" for matters assessed to have an 80-90% probability of being true, and "almost certain" for those with a 95-100% probability.
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