All North Korean recruits are taught a song that includes a verse about saving their last bullet for themselves to avoid capture, one former soldier told NBC News.

North Korean troops' limited combat experience and unfamiliarity with the terrain of the Russian-Ukrainian battlefields have contributed to heavy losses.

Pyongyang's monthly troop losses could skyrocket if it deploys more troops to the frontlines in Kursk and continues sustaining high losses.

North Korean soldiers have been deployed to fight for Russia, repelling Ukraine’s incursion in the border region of Kursk. CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh gained rare insight into their brutal and near-suicidal tactics,