North Korea’s suicide soldiers pose new challenge for Ukraine in war with Russia

Military members salute during a military demonstration involving tank units, guided by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (not pictured), in North Korea, March 13, 2024 in this picture released on March 14, 2024, by the Korean Central News Agency. … Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
Published January 14, 2025
SEOUL, Jan 14 (Reuters) – After a battle in Russia’s snowy western region of Kursk this week, Ukrainian special forces scoured the bodies of more than a dozen slain North Korean enemy soldiers.
Among them, they found one still alive. But as they approached, he detonated a grenade, blowing himself up, according to a description of the fighting posted on social media by Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces on Monday.
The forces said their soldiers escaped the blast uninjured. Reuters could not verify the incident.
But it is among mounting evidence from the battlefield, intelligence reports and testimonies of defectors that some North Korean soldiers are resorting to extreme measures as they support Russia’s three-year war with Ukraine.
“Self-detonation and suicides: that’s the reality about North Korea,” said Kim, a 32-year-old former North Korean soldier who defected to the South in 2022, requesting he only be identified by his surname due to fears of reprisals against his family left in the North.

 

“These soldiers who left home for a fight there have been brainwashed and are truly ready to sacrifice themselves for Kim Jong Un,” he added, referring to the reclusive North Korean leader.
Kim, introduced to Reuters by Seoul-based human rights group NK Imprisonment Victims’ Family Association, said he had worked for North Korea’s military in Russia for about seven years up until 2021 on construction projects to earn foreign currency for the regime.

 

Ukrainian and Western assessments say Pyongyang has deployed some 11,000 soldiers to support Moscow’s forces in Russia’s western Kursk region, which Ukraine seized in a surprise incursion last year. More than 3,000 have been killed or injured, according to Kyiv.
North Korea’s mission to the United Nations in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Moscow and Pyongyang initially dismissed reports about the North’s troop deployment as “fake news”. But Russian president Vladimir Putin in October did not deny that North Korean soldiers were currently in Russia and a North Korean official said any such deployment would be lawful.

 

READ FULL ARTICLE

SOURCE: www.reuters.com

RELATED: North Korean troops told to choose suicide over capture in Ukraine: Seoul

Over 300 North Korean soldiers killed in battle, South Korea’s spy agency says

North Korean soldier appears in this screenshot from an aerial surveillance video. (Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s X account via Kyodo)
NIKKEI ASIA | Published January 14, 2025

SEOUL — North Korean soldiers deployed to fight against Ukraine have been instructed to take their own lives to avoid capture, according to an assessment by South Korea’s spy agency.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told lawmakers Monday that over 300 North Korean troops have died along with more than 2,700 wounded while supporting Russia’s war efforts. A lawmaker later provided a summary of the briefing to reporters.

Among the dead soldiers, notes were discovered indicating that the regime pressured the troops to kill themselves rather than be taken prisoner, the NIS alleged. Some notes contained hopes of joining the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea or being pardoned.

In one account, a soldier on the verge of being captured tried to blow himself up with a grenade while yelling “General Kim Jong Un.” The soldier was shot dead before carrying out the act, the NIS said.

On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his military captured two North Korean soldiers. The next day, Zelenskyy offered to hand over the soldiers to Pyongyang if Kim can organize an exchange for Ukrainian troops being held prisoner in Russia.

According to the NIS, the two captured soldiers belonged to the Reconnaissance General Bureau, a North Korean military intelligence organ. The soldiers testified they were sent to battle without being promised salaries, but instead notified they would be treated as heroes, the NIS said.

News that soldiers have been sent to fight Ukraine has spread throughout North Korea, and families of the deployed have voiced fear and concern, the NIS alleged. Those families are being compensated with food and living necessities, the spy agency said.

Citizens with no connection to the troops hope Russia will provide aid that improves the livelihoods of the North Korean public, according to the NIS.

READ FULL ARTICLE

SOURCE: www.asia.nikkei.com

 

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply