Soldiers held in Ukraine rarely see the North Korean army

A young soldier from North Korea said he did not know where he was fighting when he was sent from his isolated homeland to the frontline of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Another North Korean soldier shook his head when asked if his parents knew where he was.

The a three-minute video clip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted on his social media platform X on Sunday that a Ukrainian official interrogated two North Korean prisoners of war with the help of a Korean interpreter. Ukrainian authorities they announced their arrest on Saturday, saying they were the first North Korean soldiers to be taken safely. Mr. Zelensky then offered to exchange them for Ukrainian prisoners of war held in Russia.

The soldiers’ answers came in footage provided and edited by Ukraine, which oversees the video’s production and distribution. It provided a small but rare glimpse into the mindset and preparation that was assumed. 11,000 North Korean soldiers Deployed to aid Russia’s war against Ukraine.

They backed up what South Korean and US officials have said in recent weeks: North Korean troops causes heavy losses In a foreign war in unknown territory, their government kept their deployment a secret from their own people.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told lawmakers in Seoul on Monday that it estimates 300 North Korean soldiers have been killed and 2,700 wounded in fighting against Ukraine. The White House put the fee is even higher.

Memorabilia found with dead North Korean soldiers showed their government urged highly indoctrinated troops to take their own lives rather than be captured on the battlefield, South Korean lawmakers told reporters after a closed-door meeting with the intelligence agency. , echoes Mr. Zelensky’s claim. They said that a North Korean soldier shouted the name of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and tried to blow himself up with a grenade when he was shot by the Ukrainian military.

North Korea has not responded to reports of its soldiers being captured or killed by Ukrainian forces. He never disclosed the deployment or bulk shipment of artillery shells and other weapons sent to Russia to help North Korea’s war against Ukraine, although they marked the country’s first intervention in a major armed conflict abroad in decades.

In the video released by Mr. Zelensky, the voice of the officer interrogating the North Koreans has been distorted, possibly to prevent their identification, and it is clear that the captured servicemen are still injured. Ukraine said the soldiers received medical attention and were taken to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, for questioning. However, by posting the video clip on the Internet, Ukraine used captives in its messages to the West.

The Ukrainian leader has seen North Korea’s involvement in Russia as a way to try and bolster more support from allies. South Korea has also cited North Korea’s growing military alliance with Russia as a source of international concern.

Experts say POWs’ comments should be evaluated against the backdrop of a power imbalance between captors and POWs, where detainees cannot speak freely and may be motivated by their own security concerns or a desire for better treatment.

Under the Geneva Conventions, which govern the treatment of prisoners of war, governments must protect prisoners of war from becoming a matter of “public interest,” a concept sometimes interpreted as not presenting them in any public setting.

Lying on a bed with both hands wrapped in white bandages, one of the two North Korean POWs looked confused as one of them nodded or shook his head and said he didn’t know he was fighting Ukraine. was now in Ukraine.

When he was sent to the front line on Jan. 3, he said only that North Korean troops would “train as if we were in a real battle.”

“I saw my colleagues die next to me,” he said. “I was hiding in the shelter when I got hurt.”

When asked if he wanted to go home, the soldier asked if the Ukrainians were good people. When the interpreter said yes, she said in a weak but pleading voice, “I want to live here.”

Another North Korean soldier had his jaw bandaged and did not speak. When asked if he had parents in North Korea, he nodded. But when asked if they knew where he was, he shook his head.

Kang Dong-wan, an expert on North Korea, said: “The video of the two soldiers shows that Kim Jong-un has not been able to find a way to justify his country’s involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war to his own people.” at Dong-A University in South Korea. “It also showed North Korean troops being wasted as cannon fodder.”

South Korean lawmakers told reporters at a briefing that the two soldiers belonged to the General Intelligence Bureau, the intelligence arm of the North Korean military. Legislators said that when soldiers were sent to war, their government promised to treat them as “heroes”.

The soldiers were captured in western Russia’s Kursk region, where North Korean forces are fighting to help Russia retake territory seized by Ukraine during a surprise cross-border incursion last summer.

North Korean troops fired at drones flying at point blank range to destroy them, South Korea’s intelligence agency told lawmakers, citing battlefield footage it analyzed. They also launched reckless strikes against their enemies without proper artillery support from the rear.

It is believed that Mr. Kim will reap billions of dollars Oil, food and weapons technology in exchange for supplying Russia with troops and weapons, according to South Korean analysts and officials. But the troop deployment has been so rushed that North Korean soldiers are ill-prepared for modern warfare, especially drone attacks.

On Sunday, Mr. Zelensky said that Ukraine is “ready to hand over Kim Jong-un’s soldiers if he can exchange them for our captured fighters in Russia.”

“There may be other options for North Korean soldiers who don’t want to return. In particular, this opportunity will be given to those who express their desire to bring peace closer by spreading the truth about this war in the Korean language,” he added.

Professor Kang said that by revealing the face of a North Korean soldier and his desire to stay in Ukraine, Ukrainian officials are jeopardizing his safety if he is sent back to North Korea, where his statement would be considered treason.

South Korean lawmakers quoted the intelligence agency as saying that Seoul’s government is ready to negotiate with Kiev if any North Korean prisoners want to go to South Korea.