A North Korean soldier taken prisoner by Ukrainian forces after being deployed to fight alongside Russia has died from his injuries, South Korean intelligence reported Friday.
• Also read: South Korea estimates 1,100 North Korean soldiers killed or wounded against Ukrainians
• Also read: At least 100 North Koreans killed in Russia-Ukraine fighting, Seoul says
• Also read: “Hundreds” of North Korean soldiers dead or injured in Russia, says Washington
“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,” the intelligence agency said in a statement. a press release.
The capture of a North Korean soldier was a first since Kyiv and the West reported the participation of Pyongyang troops in the conflict.
This involvement of a regular foreign army constituted a major escalation of the invasion which was launched almost three years ago by Vladimir Putin and is entering a critical phase with the return in less than a month of Donald Trump to the White House.
The South Korean agency announced the capture following publications reporting it, with supporting photos, by Ukrainian accounts on social networks.
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.
Neither Russia nor North Korea have ever confirmed the presence of this contingent alongside the Russian army.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky assured Monday that nearly 3,000 North Korean soldiers had been “killed or injured” since their engagement alongside Russia. Seoul, for its part, mentioned 1,100 “killed or injured” on Monday.
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.
Negotiation hypothesis
A historic mutual defense treaty between Pyongyang and Moscow, signed in June, entered into force earlier this month. It provides for “immediate military aid” in the event of armed aggression 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.
“The involvement of the North Koreans in the fighting did not have a significant impact on the situation,” Yevgen Ierin, spokesperson for Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR), told AFP on Tuesday.
According to him, North Korean troops do not have modern combat experience, particularly in the face of drones that have become omnipresent on the battlefield, and use “more primitive tactics, from World War II or after.” -Second World War”.
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.
The Republican, already president of the United States from 2017 to 2021, has repeatedly promised to restore peace to Ukraine “within 24 hours” and called for an “immediate ceasefire” as well as talks.
But the vagueness surrounding his plan arouses concern in Ukraine. In difficulty on the front and very dependent on Western aid, it fears being forced into an agreement that would be unfavorable to it.
While the possibility of peace negotiations is increasingly mentioned, the Russian president said Thursday that Slovakia had offered to be a “platform” for such discussions, during a visit to Russia by Prime Minister Robert Fico on December 22.
This visit by a European leader to the Russian capital, a very rare step, went against the policy of isolation of Vladimir Putin applied by the West, who strive to form a united front in their support for Kyiv .
