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At least 100 North Korean soldiers have been killed in fighting in Ukraine's war since they entered combat on the Russian side earlier this month, a South Korean lawmaker said.
Lee Sung-kwon, speaking to reporters after Parliament was briefed by the country's National Intelligence Service, said an additional 1,000 people had been injured.
He said the casualties included high-ranking officials and could be explained by the troops' lack of familiarity with the terrain and with drone warfare.
The first reports of North Korean casualties came earlier this week. It emerged in October that the North had sent 10,000 troops to support Russia's war effort.
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Russia has strengthened ties with North Korea in recent months
On Monday, a US Pentagon spokesperson said North Koreans had been killed, without giving a figure, and a day later an unnamed US official said there had been “several hundred” dead or injured.
The BBC has not independently verified these claims.
North Korean troops, none of whom have prior combat experience, reportedly spent their first weeks in Russia training and then serving in support roles.
The casualties are believed to have occurred in Russia's Kursk region, where Ukrainians are defending a small area of territory captured in a surprise incursion in August.
Last Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had begun using “significant numbers” of North Koreans in its assaults on Kursk.
They are not believed to have been deployed in Ukraine itself, where Russian troops have advanced in the east of the country in recent months.
Lee Sung-kwon said there were reports of preparations for additional deployment and that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could oversee the training.
It cited intelligence officials as saying the high casualty numbers could be attributed to “an unfamiliar battlefield environment, where North Korean forces are used as replaceable frontline assault units, and their lack of ability to counter drone attacks.
“Within the Russian military, there have reportedly been complaints that North Korean troops, due to their lack of drone knowledge, are more of a burden than an asset,” he added. .
Neither Russia nor the North has acknowledged the troop deployment, but a North Korean statement released Thursday by the official KCNA news agency said the country's alliance with Moscow “deters the United States and ill-intentioned extension of Western influence.
