A North Korean soldier captured by Ukrainian forces has succumbed to his injuries, according to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS), reports.
The NIS confirmed earlier reports about the capture of the injured soldier, stating, “Through real-time information sharing with a friendly nation’s intelligence organization, we confirmed the capture of a wounded North Korean soldier and plan to closely monitor developments.” This marks the first known case of a North Korean combatant being captured alive during the war in Ukraine.
The soldier was reportedly taken on December 26 in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukraine has conducted an offensive since August.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously accused Russia of attempting to hide the casualties among North Korean troops. He alleged that Russian forces are burning the faces of deceased North Korean soldiers to obscure their identities, describing the situation as a “cynical war” and calling for Russia’s accountability.
North Korea is believed to have begun deploying troops to Russia in October, with up to 11,000 reportedly arriving in the Kursk region. Among them are members of the elite “Storm” Corps, North Korea’s best-trained military unit. However, the NIS reported that these troops are poorly equipped to handle drone warfare and the challenging local terrain.
The agency stated that more than 100 “Storm” Corps troops have been killed and another 1,000 injured in their initial battles for Russia. Zelenskyy estimated in December that over 3,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed or wounded in the region.
The deployment of North Korean forces underscores Pyongyang’s growing military cooperation with Moscow, further complicating the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
