The National Intelligence Service(NIS) has estimated that some three-thousand North Korean troops have been killed or wounded fighting alongside Russian forces against the Ukrainian military.

Senior members of the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee, Rep. Lee Seong-kweun of the ruling People Power Party and Park Sun-won of the main opposition Democratic Party, told reporters that the NIS gave the briefing during a closed-door meeting on Monday.

Lee quoted the nation’s spy agency as saying that some 300 North Korean soldiers have been killed and roughly 27-hundred wounded in the Russia-Ukraine war, adding that the area of engagement has expanded to the entire Kursk region. 

The agency said it confirmed that a North Korean soldier was killed after attempting to blow himself up when he was on the verge of being captured by Ukrainian troops. 

Rep. Lee said two North Korean soldiers who were recently captured by Ukrainian troops testified that they weren’t promised any wages but were told they would be treated as national heroes. 

Lee quoted the spy agency as saying the prisoners have not expressed any desire to defect to South Korea but that it would cooperate with Ukraine should they make such a request, since the South Korean Constitution recognizes North Koreans as fellow citizens.