Ukraine Captures North Korean Soldiers Amid Ongoing Conflict in Kursk Region
South Korea has confirmed the capture of two North Korean soldiers by Ukrainian forces, adding a significant layer to the unfolding narrative of the ongoing conflict in the Kursk region of Russia. This development comes just a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced that his security agency was conducting investigations regarding the two captured fighters.
On January 9, Ukrainian military forces engaged in operations in the Kursk battlefield, leading to the capture of the North Korean soldiers. South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) has worked in real-time collaboration with Ukraine's intelligence agency to verify this information. Following the capture, Zelenskiy provided updates via a Telegram post, where he shared images of the soldiers, although he did not present conclusive evidence confirming their North Korean identity. However, the corroborative statement from South Korea lends significant credibility to these claims.
In a statement released by Ukraine's SBU intelligence agency on January 11, a video was showcased, depicting the two captured soldiers in hospital beds—one with bandaged hands and the other with a bandaged jaw. The SBU reported that these soldiers communicated with the assistance of interpreters from the NIS. Notably, one of the prisoners, born in 2005, expressed that he believed he was being sent for training rather than entering a conflict with Ukraine. Provided with limited means of communication due to injuries sustained, the other soldier, born in 1999, identified himself as a sniper in the North Korean military.
The NIS further asserted that one of the captured soldiers had received training from the Russian military after an arrival in Russia in November. This soldier initially thought their deployment was for training purposes, only to realize the reality of being sent into conflict upon reaching Russian territory. Reports from the NIS also indicated that one soldier went without food or water for four to five days before being captured.
This incident occurs against the backdrop of escalated military operations in the Kursk region, where Ukraine is striving to prevent Russia from reclaiming lost territory. Notably, in August 2024, a rapid Ukrainian offensive made significant inroads into Kursk, marking the largest modern incursion onto Russian soil since World War II.
Last fall, North Korea reportedly dispatched approximately 11,000 troops to the Kursk region to support Russian efforts against Ukraine. Despite some territorial reclamation by Russian forces, Ukrainian troops continue to maintain control over substantial areas—more than 500 square kilometers in Kursk—as North Korean forces have endured considerable casualties.
Zelenskiy noted on December 23, 2022, that more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers—around a quarter of the special forces dispatched to Russia—had been either killed or injured, although specific evidence supporting this claim was not provided. Furthermore, White House spokesman John Kirby, in a briefing on December 27, indicated that North Korean troops are facing dire circumstances on the front lines, estimating that around 1,000 soldiers were either killed or wounded in the Kursk region within a single week. Kirby described the treatment of these North Korean troops by Russian and North Korean military leaders as expendable, calling their continued assaults against firmly established Ukrainian defenses a hopeless endeavor.
With the situation evolving rapidly, the implications of these developments are yet to be fully understood, as international stakeholders continue to respond and react to the shifting dynamics thereof.
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