South Korean lawmakers reported on Monday that approximately 300 North Korean troops have been killed and 2,700 others injured while fighting for Russia against Ukrainian forces. The casualties were attributed to a lack of modern warfare tactics and poor utilization by the Russian side, as revealed in a closed-door briefing from South Korea’s National Intelligence Service. It was also mentioned that North Korean soldiers have been ordered to commit suicide to avoid capture by detonating explosives. Ukrainian and U.S. officials have stated that around 11,000 North Korean troops were deployed to the Russian region of Kursk, where Ukrainian forces conducted a cross-border incursion in August. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed readiness to exchange the captured North Korean soldiers for Ukrainians held in Russia. The captured soldiers are believed to provide valuable information about North Korea, particularly concerning its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Experts suggest that the North Korean troops are acting as reinforcements for Russia in exchange for technical assistance with Kim Jong Un’s weapons programs, despite their lack of adequate training.
A North Korean soldier swam for six hours to flee to South Korea in 2016. “Kim Jong Un, as the Supreme Leader, ordered them to go,” said the defector. “They sent all these young people out, and they will most definitely be sacrificed,” he added.
The soldier, who remains anonymous for security reasons, was one of two who managed to escape and were subsequently captured alive by Ukraine since North Korea entered the war last fall, escalating the almost-three-year-old conflict. Tragically, a North Korean soldier captured by Ukraine in December succumbed to his injuries.
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby stated last month that some North Korean soldiers have chosen to take their own lives rather than surrender to Ukrainian forces, possibly due to fear of reprisals against their families in North Korea if they were to be captured.
Reporters Stella Kim and Janis Mackey Frayer were in Seoul, South Korea, and Jennifer Jett was reporting from Hong Kong.
