White House: North Korean Troops Suffer Heavy Losses in Ukraine

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday that North Korean forces are suffering significant casualties on the frontlines in Russia’s war against Ukraine, with 1,000 soldiers killed or wounded in the past week alone in Russia’s Kursk region. This figure far exceeds previous estimates by U.S. officials.

Kirby said, “It’s clear that Russian and North Korean military leaders treat these troops as expendable, ordering them into desperate attacks against Ukrainian defenses.” He described these attacks as “massive and uncoordinated.”

“A thousand soldiers killed or wounded in just seven or eight days—hopefully their commanders have enough coffins, because clearly they’ll need them,” he said.

Kirby also noted reports of suicides among North Korean troops. “There are reports of North Korean soldiers killing themselves rather than surrendering to Ukrainian forces, perhaps out of fear of retaliation against their families back in North Korea if captured,” he said.

He added that the presence of “foreign forces on Russian soil” highlights the desperation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Neither North Korea’s mission to the United Nations in New York nor Russia’s UN mission responded to requests for comment.

Kirby suggested President Joe Biden might approve another security assistance package for Ukraine in the coming days. Earlier this week, Biden condemned Russia’s Christmas Day attacks on Ukraine’s energy systems and cities and directed the Pentagon to continue ramping up arms deliveries to Ukraine.

On December 17, a U.S. military official reported hundreds of casualties among North Korean forces fighting Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on Monday that over 3,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed or wounded in the Kursk region, noting that the figures were based on preliminary data, according to Reuters.