ISTANBUL

A South Korean legislator, who visited Ukraine recently, Wednesday said North Korea has sent around 3,500 more soldiers to Russia for training, with a possible third troop dispatch.

Lawmaker Yu Yong-weon, from South Korea's ruling People Power Party, cited intelligence he received from Ukraine's chief of defense intelligence Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov during his visit to Ukraine last month, the Seoul-based Yonhap News reported.

There are “some 3,500 North Korean soldiers who are undergoing field adaptation training in five locations in Russia's Far East, and there is a possibility of a third deployment,” he said.

“The second batch of (North Korean) troops is approximately 1,500 soldiers, and they have already been deployed near Russia's Kursk region after completing adaptation training,” Yu told CBS radio earlier in the day.

“I heard from the Ukrainian government that additional troops were being deployed to replenish (the force) and that another group of troops is preparing for deployment,” the legislator said.

Yu also said Ukraine estimated the casualties of North Korean soldiers at around 4,000, with %10 of them presumed dead, while South Korea estimates at around 3,600 amid the ongoing Moscow-Kyiv war.

In January, the South Korean National Intelligence Service claimed that at least 300 North Korean soldiers were killed and 2,700 injured in combat with Ukraine.

In October last year, the Pentagon said that North Korea sent around 10,000 troops to eastern Russia.

Pyongyang has so far maintained silence even after reports of alleged deaths and injuries among its troops in Russia.