▲ A suspected North Korean soldier is seen in this captured image from video footage taken by a Ukrainian military drone. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

NK troops-drones

N. Korean troops raise observation posts against Ukrainian drones over casualties: Kyiv

SEOUL, Dec. 19 (Yonhap) -- North Korean troops dispatched to Russia for combat against Ukraine have installed more observation posts to detect Ukrainian drones, Ukraine's military intelligence service has said, amid reports of North Korean forces suffering heavy combat losses.

The Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) made the disclosure on its website Tuesday after the United States confirmed for the first time that North Korea suffered "significant" troop losses alongside Russian forces against Ukraine.

"After suffering severe losses, DPRK units began to set up additional observation posts to detect drones of the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine," the DIU said, referring to the North by the acronym of its official name -- the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The DIU also noted that Moscow continued to use North Korean troops in Russia's western front-line region of Kursk.

"The constant accumulation of assault groups by DPRK army personnel in the Kursk region indicates that Moscow does not want to lose the pace of offensive actions," it said, adding that North Korean troops use red tape to identify themselves at the front.

On Thursday, South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers that at least 100 North Korean troops dispatched to Russia have been killed, with some 1,000 estimated to be injured.

The National Intelligence Service attributed the high number of casualties to the fact that North Korean troops are being "consumed" as front-line assault forces in "unfamiliar battlefields" due to their lack of experience with drones.

It added that Russia's military has complained that the North Korean soldiers are a "burden" because of their "ignorance" of drones.

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