Seoul confirms Ukraine captured two North Korean soldiers
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An alleged North Korean soldier lying in a cell at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, released on Jan 11.
PHOTO: AFP
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SEOUL - South Korea’s National Intelligence Service on Jan 12 backed up Ukraine’s account of having captured two wounded North Korean soldiers
Ukraine, the United States and South Korea have accused nuclear-armed North Korea of sending more than 10,000 soldiers to help bolster Russian forces.
Seoul’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) said in a statement it has “confirmed that the Ukrainian military captured two North Korean soldiers on Jan 9 in the Kursk battlefield in Russia”.
On Jan 11, Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service released a video showing the two men in hospital bunks, one with bandaged hands and the other with a bandaged jaw.
A doctor at the detention centre said the first man also had a broken leg.
The SBU said the men had told interrogators they were experienced army soldiers, and one said he was sent to Russia for training, not fighting.
But Kyiv did not present direct evidence that the captured men were North Korean and AFP was unable to independently verify their nationalities.
South Korea’s confirmation added weight to Kyiv’s account.
The NIS similarly said one of the captured soldiers revealed during his interrogation that he received military training from Russian forces after arriving there in November 2024.
“He initially believed he was being sent for training, realising upon arrival in Russia that he had been deployed,” the NIS said.
The soldier said North Korean forces had experienced “significant losses during battle”.
According to Seoul’s intelligence agency, one of the men “went without food or water for four to five days before being captured”.
The NIS said it would continue to work with the SBU to share information on North Korean fighters in Ukraine.
Neither Russia nor North Korea has reacted to the intelligence accounts.
Closer cooperation
Russia and North Korea have boosted their military ties since Moscow’s invasion, though neither has confirmed that Pyongyang’s forces are fighting for Moscow.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said in December 2024 that nearly 3,000 North Korean soldiers had been “killed or wounded” there, while Seoul put the figure at 1,000.
The NIS told the country’s lawmakers in December that “several North Korean casualties” had already been attributed to Ukrainian missile and drone attacks as well as training accidents, with the highest ranking “at least at the level of a general”.
Due to losses among its forces, North Korea is preparing for additional deployment to Ukraine, according to Seoul’s military.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement in December that Pyongyang is reportedly “preparing for the rotation or additional deployment of soldiers” to aid Russia’s war effort.
Pyongyang and Moscow have deepened political, military and cultural ties since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin repeatedly professing their personal closeness.
In a New Year’s letter, Mr Kim hailed Mr Putin and made a possible reference to the war in Ukraine.
He said 2025 would be the year “when the Russian army and people defeat neo-Nazism and achieve a great victory”. AFP
