
A captured North Korean soldier solutions questions in a video posted Saturday on X by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Captured from Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s X
At the least 300 North Korean troops dispatched to assist the Kremlin’s conflict towards Ukraine have been killed and a couple of,700 others injured, in line with South Korea’s spy company, Monday.
The Nationwide Intelligence Service (NIS) instructed members of the Nationwide Meeting’s Intelligence Committee that the troops had been directed by their regime in Pyongyang to kill themselves or conduct suicide bombing assaults, if deemed crucial, to keep away from being captured, in line with Rep. Lee Seong-kweun of the ruling Folks Energy Get together.
The NIS attributed the excessive variety of North Korean casualties to their „lack of expertise of recent warfare,“ highlighting their reckless try and launch a land assault with out supporting hearth. This conclusion was drawn from an evaluation of fight video obtained not too long ago.
On the battlefield, a North Korean soldier was confirmed to have been killed by Ukrainians simply earlier than trying a suicide assault along with his grenade, whereas shouting „Basic Kim Jong-un,“ the identify of North Korea’s chief, in line with the NIS.
The intelligence committee assembly was held following the discharge of a video by Kyiv displaying two wounded North Korean troopers who had been captured alive by the Ukrainian army.
The NIS additionally confirmed that the 2 had been members of the Reconnaissance Basic Bureau of North Korea’s army. They had been among the many 2,500 troops of the bureau deployed to Russia in October 2024.
Neither of the 2 expressed his want to defect to South Korea, in line with the spy company.
The Ukrainian video reveals the North Korean captives being interrogated by way of a Korean interpreter.
One among them, mendacity on a bunk with bandages on each arms, shook his head when requested if he knew he was combating towards Ukrainian troops in a conflict. He mentioned he thought he was partaking in “lifelike” army drills as he was instructed by his commanders. He mentioned he began to participate in what he thought was a army train on Jan. 3 and hid himself inside an air-raid shelter till being captured after seeing a few of his fellow troopers die.
When requested if he would return to North Korea, he replied with a query: „Are Ukrainians good folks?“ After the interpreter responded, „Right here is sweet,“ he mentioned, „I need to dwell right here.“
When requested the identical query, the opposite captive was initially unresponsive, however when the interpreter requested once more, utilizing “Choson,” the time period North Koreans use for his or her nation, he nodded.

A captured North Korean soldier solutions questions in a video posted Saturday on X by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Captured from Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s X
In his publish on X the identical day, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned he was prepared handy over the captured North Koreans in change for the return of Ukrainian prisoners of conflict held in Russia.
Talking to The Korea Occasions, specialists mentioned Zelenskyy mustn’t ship them again to the North, particularly the one who expressed his want to stay in Ukraine.
“Almost certainly, he could be executed upon arrival,” mentioned Oh Gyeong-seob, a senior researcher on the Korea Institute for Nationwide Unification, a state-funded suppose tank. “I imagine there’s a function the South Korean authorities can play. In the event that they need to defect to South Korea, that might be the most effective consequence. However at the very least, our authorities ought to make it possible for they received’t be despatched again.”
For Oh, probably the most stunning a part of the video was that the Kim regime had withheld the reality from the troopers when it despatched them to Russia.
“This implies that the regime thinks that there isn’t a legitimacy in Russia’s conflict,” he mentioned.
Specialists additionally imagine the North Korean captives shall be handled as POWs underneath the Geneva Conventions.
“Despite the fact that North Korea and Russia deny their army cooperation, they had been apparently North Koreans and captured whereas combating in conflict. They are going to be acknowledged as POWs,” mentioned Park Received-gon, a professor of North Korean research at Ewha Womans College.
At a press briefing, Koo Byoung-sam, spokesman for the Ministry of Unifcation, mentioned a assessment of worldwide regulation and consultations with related international locations shall be crucial if the North Korean captives are to be dropped at South Korea.