Summary
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claims Russian forces are burning the faces of dead North Korean soldiers to hide their involvement in Ukraine.
He says North Koreans are now being deployed in significant numbers, particularly in Russia’s Kursk region, where 200 have reportedly been killed or wounded.
The U.S. confirmed indications of North Korean casualties, while South Korea imposed sanctions on officials and entities involved in North Korea-Russia military cooperation.
But why north koreans and not any other foreign nationals they’ve conscripted/employed?
Because they are insisting the Koreans aren’t fighting so the countries that support Ukraine have plausible deniability and can say they don’t see signs of escalation, despite the fact that NK soldiers are fighting in Ukraine.
IIRC it was the same story with iranian, north korean and chinese equipment and munitnions yet russians stuck to the narration of domestic production and collective west made an angry face, with a few sactions thrown here and there. I think equipment and ammunition were much greater escalation than boots on the ground, greater in a sense real impact on the war.