10k North Korean soldiers in Kursk

Some of 10,900 North Korean troops sent to Kursk have been fighting in elite Russian airborne and marine units against Ukraine, according to a lawmaker on the intelligence committee of the South Korean parliament.

Park Sun-won, citing the South’s spy agency, said North Korea had also shipped additional arms for the war in Ukraine, including self-propelled howitzers and multiple rocket launchers.

Park added that the North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow this month was unusual in terms of protocol, and likely went beyond exchanging greetings, to cover more significant issues including a possible visit to Russia by Kim Jong-un.

The spy agency was still trying to determine the exact number of North Korean troop casualties and whether any had surrendered amid conflicting information, Park said.