Soldiers sent by Pyongyang to Russia’s Kursk region halt combat after suffering major casualties, South Korea says.

South Korea’s military says it suspects North Korea is preparing to send additional troops to Russia after its soldiers already deployed on the Russian-Ukraine war fronts suffered heavy casualties

North Korea sent its best troops to aid Russia in its war against Ukraine. But after months of suffering severe losses, they have been taken off the front line.

January, there have been no signs showing North Korean troops deployed to the Russian Kursk region engaging in battle," South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said, suggesting that heavy losses may have been one of the reasons for their withdrawal.

Reports indicate that North Korean soldiers deployed alongside Russian forces in the Kursk region have halted combat operations after suffering significant losses.

North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russia's army in the Kursk region appear to have suspended combat operations last month, South Korea's spy agency told AFP Tuesday, coming after Ukraine claimed the soldiers had been pulled from the front line after facing heavy losses.

The reason for this is believed to be heavy casualties, “but the exact details are still being monitored," the NIS said. Earlier media reports stated that about a thousand North Korean soldiers may have been killed in Kursk Oblast by mid-January 2025.