North Korean soldiers in Kursk could suffer total losses by spring 2025

The entire North Korean contingent (approximately 12,000 troops) currently stationed in the Kursk region (Russia) may be killed or wounded in combat by mid-April 2025.

This is stated in a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), CE Report quotes Ukrinform.

“The entire North Korean contingent of roughly 12,000 personnel currently in Kursk Oblast may be killed or wounded in action by mid-April 2025 should North Korean forces continue to suffer from their current high loss rate in the future,” analysts said.

It is noted that on November 5, 2024, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that North Korean forces had participated in “small-scale” clashes in the Kursk region.

Already in early January, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that 3,800 North Korean troops had been killed or wounded in the Kursk region.

Thus, North Korea has likely suffered approximately 92 casualties per day since the start of significant hostilities in early December 2024.

If, as reported, North Korea has deployed approximately 12,000 North Korean troops to the Kursk region, then this entire North Korean contingent could be killed or wounded in about 12 weeks (mid-April 2025) if the rate of casualties in North Korean forces continues at a similarly high level.