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Russia withdraws North Korean troops in Kursk after losses, Seoul says
The Guardian ^ | 7th February 2025 | Justin McCurry

Posted on 02/07/2025 7:31:20 AM PST by Cronos

North Korean troops sent to fight alongside Russia in its war against Ukraine have not been seen in battle for several weeks, raising speculation that they have been withdrawn after suffering heavy losses, according to South Korea’s spy agency.

The National Intelligence Service in Seoul this week confirmed media reports that North Korean troops had been pulled from the frontline around the middle of January.

North Korea began sending an estimated 11,000 troops to the Russian Kursk region in late 2024, soon after the North’s ruler, Kim Jong-un, and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, agreed a mutual defence pact designed to strengthen their alliance against what they called a US-led “western hegemony”.

Their involvement has come at a heavy price. Intelligence officials in South Korea said about 300 North Koreans had been killed and about 2,700 wounded.

...The North’s soldiers, who had not seen combat before being deployed, were said to have been unprepared for the harsh realities of warfare in unfamiliar terrain and particularly vulnerable to Ukrainian drones.

Intelligence officials in the South claimed notes had been found on dead North Korean soldiers indicating that the regime expected them to kill themselves rather than be taken prisoner.

(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Russia; Ukraine
KEYWORDS: justinmccurry; norks; southkorea; thegrauniad
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1 posted on 02/07/2025 7:31:20 AM PST by Cronos
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To: Cronos

Interesting development...


2 posted on 02/07/2025 7:33:42 AM PST by rrrod (6)
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To: Cronos

Do we have definitive proof that there ever were Norks there?

Could it have been a ploy to bring us into the war?

Just wondering, since truth is hard to come by.


3 posted on 02/07/2025 7:35:01 AM PST by LachlanMinnesota
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To: Cronos

They should flee to Poland.


4 posted on 02/07/2025 7:35:42 AM PST by HYPOCRACY (Democracy is dead. Long live the Republic!)
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To: Cronos

I think the North Koreans had just finished eating all the dogs in Kursk and were starting to eye the Russians so it was high time to leave.


5 posted on 02/07/2025 7:36:02 AM PST by rdcbn1 (TV )
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To: HYPOCRACY

That would be difficult - they’d need to fight their way through the Ukrainians in Kursk and then through Ukraine.


6 posted on 02/07/2025 7:43:28 AM PST by Cronos
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To: rrrod

The Guardian -read no further.


7 posted on 02/07/2025 7:44:08 AM PST by iamgalt
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To: LachlanMinnesota

Seoul acknowledges that there were Norks there.

However, this couldn’t pull in anyone else as Putin used the Norks only on Russian territory (Kursk)


8 posted on 02/07/2025 7:44:11 AM PST by Cronos
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To: iamgalt
"USAID funding for Nork story withdrawn..."  
9 posted on 02/07/2025 7:51:10 AM PST by kiryandil (No one in AZ that voted for Trump voted for Gallego )
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To: Cronos

Guardian 🤡😂


10 posted on 02/07/2025 7:51:15 AM PST by MotorCityBuck (Keep the change, you are filthy animal! )
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To: Cronos; LachlanMinnesota
Seoul acknowledges that there were Norks there.

Seoul is in SOUTH Korea.

11 posted on 02/07/2025 7:52:25 AM PST by kiryandil (No one in AZ that voted for Trump voted for Gallego )
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To: kiryandil

And Kazan is in Tatarstan.

The South Koreans keep track of what the Norks are doing and where


12 posted on 02/07/2025 7:54:18 AM PST by Cronos
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To: Cronos

South Korea should focus on their own problems.


13 posted on 02/07/2025 8:00:41 AM PST by McGruff (Biden will go down in history as the worst president ever.)
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To: Cronos; LachlanMinnesota
The South Koreans keep track of what the Norks are doing and where

I suspect that the North Koreans are more aware than the South Koreans of what the North Koreans are doing.

But you do you.

14 posted on 02/07/2025 8:02:38 AM PST by kiryandil (No one in AZ that voted for Trump voted for Gallego )
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To: Cronos

“...said about 300 North Koreans had been killed and about 2,700 wounded.”

Those numbers aren’t nearly as high as I’d like - but they’re a good start.


15 posted on 02/07/2025 8:35:24 AM PST by MplsSteve
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To: Cronos

Perhaps the NORKs are not as tough as we once thought.


16 posted on 02/07/2025 8:46:10 AM PST by Lion Den Dan ( )
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To: Lion Den Dan

North Koreans due to poor diet have the physical development of 12-14 year old South Koreans.


17 posted on 02/07/2025 8:50:06 AM PST by Reily (a)
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To: kiryandil

You would rather believe NK than South Korea? Ridiculous.


18 posted on 02/07/2025 8:55:28 AM PST by SpirituTuo ( )
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To: SpirituTuo

Turn off MSNBC and step away from the TeeVee.

Were there actually any Norks in Kursk - or did you get your information on that from the USAID-funded Ukrainian media?


19 posted on 02/07/2025 9:05:32 AM PST by kiryandil (No one in AZ that voted for Trump voted for Gallego )
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To: LachlanMinnesota

—”Do we have definitive proof that there ever were Norks there?”

The modern internet is full of bots.
Your job is to prove you’re not one of them.


20 posted on 02/07/2025 9:28:34 AM PST by DUMBGRUNT ( "The enemy has overrun us. We are blowing up everything. Vive la France!"Dien Bien Phu last message)
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