Overview

• South Korea’s National Intelligence Service reports North Korea will send additional troops, laborers and weaponry to Russia as early as July and August
• State television aired images of Kim Jong Un kneeling in tears before a handful of flag-draped coffins commemorating soldiers killed on the Kursk front
• Footage released by state media shows Kim signing a “Liberation of Kursk” operational plan, underscoring his direct role in Russia’s Ukraine offensive
• Ukraine’s defense minister and UK intelligence estimate approximately 11,000 elite North Korean troops are deployed in Russia and that forces have suffered over 6,000 casualties
• Analysts have identified around 25,000 North Korean workers at Russia’s Alabuga special economic zone aiding in Shahed drone production