Kim Jong Un loses 2,000 North Korean troops killed in Putin's Ukraine war

North Korean despot Kim Jong-Un has sent at least 2,000 of his troops to their deaths on the frontline fighting Ukraine ’s forces alongside Moscow’s military. It was revealed as Kim arrived in Beijing for what is being billed as an ‘anti-NATO’ conference with his Russian and Chinese counterparts ahead of a major parade.

The ruthless North Korean dictator travelled from his rogue state home in an armoured train, crossing the border into China, it is believed. Latest estimates by South Korean intelligence reveals about 1,400 of his troops died since April and an unknown number were injured in just four months, having reinforced Russia ’s invasion. It comes as Russia and Ukraine have exchanged brutal missile onslaughts in recent days, despite US attempts to broker a ceasefire deal.

Most of Pyongyang’s casualties are believed to have been in Kursk, where Russian President Vladimir Putin deployed them to help beat back a Ukrainian incursion. Ukrainian troops pushed over the border into the Russian territory in August 2024, catching Moscow by surprise and forcing Kremlin troops to re-deploy extra soldiers.

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Now Seoul’s spy analysts at the National Intelligence Service believe 10,000 of Kim’s troops were sent to fight against Ukraine and a further 6,000-strong deployment is underway. Around 1,000 of Pyongyang’s latest force sent against Ukraine is thought already to have been sent into Russia for brief training and to be kitted out for war.

Seoul’s National Intelligence Service said in April “the number of war dead was at least 600. But based on updated assessments, it now estimates the figure at around 2,000,” lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun said, having been briefed by the spy agency.

South Korean and Western intelligence agencies have said the North sent more than 10,000 soldiers to Russia in 2024 -- primarily to the Kursk region -- along with artillery shells, missiles and long-range rocket systems. Russian forces have reported back to Moscow that some of the North Korean ammunition, has proved to be faulty and many bullets were revealed to be duds.

Seoul MP Mr Lee said: “It is assessed that out of the recent third deployment plan of 6,000 troops, around 1,000 combat engineers have arrived in Russia.” Earlier this year, Moscow’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Pyongyang will send builders and deminers to the Kursk region.

North Korea only confirmed it had deployed troops to support Russia’s war in Ukraine in April and admitted that its soldiers had been killed in combat. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has met with the families of soldiers killed fighting for Russia against Ukraine and sources said he offered his condolences for their “unbearable pain.”

It is also believed North Korea has sent thousands of workers to bolster Russian factories which have run desperately short of manpower because of the war. Russia has suffered well over a million casualties in death and injuries caused by ferocious battles being fought along the Ukrainian front.

Russia and North Korea signed a military deal last year, including a mutual defence clause, during a rare visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to North Korea. It means the two countries, whose leaders are international pariahs, are becoming worryingly close.

North Korea and the Kremlin have become close since Vladimir Putin's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine as Putin became desperate for more troops. Having suffered such catastrophic frontline losses his recruiters have signed up many prisoners to fight in the war under the promise of freedom if they survive the fighting.