A North Korean soldier who was taken prisoner by the Ukrainian army has died, South Korea’s intelligence agency said Friday.
He was captured by the Ukrainian army after being wounded in combat.
Nearly 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been “killed or injured” since their engagement alongside Russia, according to Volodymyr Zelensky.
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War in Ukraine: a thousand days since the Russian invasion
South Korean intelligence reported this Friday, December 27, that a North Korean fighter had been taken prisoner by the Ukrainian army, a first since Ukraine reported the participation of troops from Pyongyang in the conflict in support to Russia. Hours later, the intelligence agency reported that the man was dead. “It has been confirmed, through an allied intelligence agency, that the North Korean soldier captured alive on December 26 has just succumbed to his worsening injuries”she said.
According to kyiv, 12,000 North Korean soldiers, including “around 500 officers and three generals”are engaged in the Russian region of Kursk, of which the Ukrainian army has occupied several hundred square kilometers since August, even if neither Russia nor North Korea have ever confirmed the presence of this contingent alongside the army Russian. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky assured Monday that nearly 3,000 North Korean soldiers had been “killed or injured” since their engagement alongside Russia (1100 “killed or injured”according to Seoul).
The involvement of this regular North Korean army constituted a major escalation of the invasion which was launched almost three years ago by Vladimir Putin.
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The South Korean general staff has also observed preparations which make it believe that North Korea is preparing to send new units to Russia, as reinforcements or to relieve those already fighting, in addition to drones. A historic mutual defense treaty between Pyongyang and Moscow, signed in June, entered into force earlier this month. He plans “immediate military aid” in the event of armed attack by a third country. Seoul sees North Korea as seeking to modernize its conventional warfare capabilities with Russian assistance, through experience gained in battles against Ukrainian forces.
Ukraine and Russia have intensified their strikes in recent months, with massive bombings targeting Ukraine’s energy sector on Christmas Day, and want to do everything to strengthen their positions before Donald Trump returns to the White House in January .
