A “human wave” of North Korean soldiers fighting on Russia’s side in the Ukraine war are being sent to their deaths in futile attacks by generals who see them as “expendable,” the White House said Friday.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby confirmed South Korean estimates of around 1,000 of Pyongyang’s troops killed or wounded in just a week in the Kursk border region, where Ukraine mounted a shock incursion in August.
Terrified troops sent by Pyongyang to boost Russia’s invasion of its Western-friendly neighbor are committing suicide rather than risking capture, Kirby told reporters.
“We now assess that North Korean forces are conducting massed dismounted assaults against Ukrainian positions in Kursk, and these human wave tactics that we’re seeing haven’t really been all that effective,” Kirby said.
“In fact, we assessed that they resulted in heavy casualties for these North Korean forces. Our estimate is that, to date, they have suffered more than 1,000 killed or wounded in this particular fighting in just the past week.”
Pyongyang has deployed thousands of troops to back up Russian forces, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has estimated that almost 3,000 had been killed or wounded so far.
South Korea’s intelligence service put the number of North Korean casualties at 1,000, saying the high figure could be down to an unfamiliar battlefield environment and their lack of capability to counter drone attacks.
“It is clear that Russian and North Korean military leaders are treating these troops as expendable and ordering them on hopeless assaults against Ukrainian defenses,” Kirby said.
“These North Korean soldiers appear to be highly indoctrinated, pushing attacks even when it is clear that those attacks are futile.
“We also have reports of North Korean soldiers taking their own lives rather than surrendering to Ukrainian forces, likely out of fear of reprisal against their families in North Korea in the event that they’re captured.”
Seoul’s military believes that North Korea is seeking to modernize its conventional warfare capabilities through combat experience gained in the Russia-Ukraine war.
North Korean state media said last Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a New Year’s message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying “the bilateral ties between our two countries have been elevated after our talks in June in Pyongyang.”
A landmark defense pact went into effect in December after the two sides exchanged ratification documents.
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