Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says about 38-hundred North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded fighting against Ukrainian forces.

Zelenskyy disclosed the estimate during an interview with an American podcaster on Sunday, adding that around 12-thousand North Korean soldiers have been deployed to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war. 

He said because the North has an authoritarian regime, the reclusive state could send up to 500-thousand more troops. 

Previously, in a social media post on December 23, Zelenskyy said more than three-thousand North Korean troops had been killed or wounded in the war.