Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Brussels, December 19, 2024 (AFP / JOHN THYS)
Wounded North Korean soldiers died in Ukraine after being taken prisoner, Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Friday, with the United States affirming that the soldiers sent by Pyongyang are only considered cannon fodder.
They are suffering “a lot of losses. A lot. And we see that the Russian army and the North Korean supervisors are not at all interested in the survival of these Koreans”, declared the Ukrainian president in his daily address.
“Several North Korean soldiers died today. Our soldiers managed to capture them. But they were very seriously injured and could not be saved,” he said, before denouncing “the madness of which dictatorships are capable” by sending soldiers to be killed “in battles in Europe”.
“Everything is being done to make it impossible for us to capture Koreans. The Russians are sending them to attack with minimal protection,” Mr. Zelensky insisted.
South Korean intelligence services had revealed a few hours earlier that a North Korean soldier taken prisoner on December 26 by the Ukrainians had not survived his wounds.
– “More than 1,000” killed or injured –
In this photo released by the Sputnik agency, Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks alongside North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, June 19, 2024 in Pyongyang (POOL / Vladimir Smirnov)
The same day, Washington assured that “more than a thousand” soldiers deployed by Pyongyang in Russia to fight against Ukraine had been killed or injured during “hopeless” assaults in the Kursk border region.
“It is clear that Russian and North Korean military leaders view them as troops that can be sacrificed,” added John Kirby, the spokesperson for the US National Security Council.
“North Korean forces are carrying out massive assaults (…) against Ukrainian positions in Kursk. These human waves have not been very effective (…). We estimate that to date, more than 1,000 people were injured” or killed, he said.
On Monday, Volodymyr Zelensky said that nearly 3,000 North Korean soldiers had been “killed or injured” since their engagement alongside Russian forces and Seoul gave the figure of 1,100.
The involvement of a regular foreign army constituted a major escalation in 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.
– No “significant impact” –
According to kyiv, 12,000 North Korean soldiers, including “around 500 officers”, including “three generals”, are in the Kursk region, of which the Ukrainian army has occupied several hundred square kilometers since August.
Neither Russia nor North Korea have confirmed the presence of this contingent.
The general staff of the South Korean forces has also observed preparations which make it believe that North Korea is preparing to dispatch new units to Russia, to reinforce or to relieve those already fighting, in addition to drones.
A historic mutual defense treaty between Pyongyang and Moscow, signed in June, recently entered into force. It provides for “immediate military aid” in the event of armed aggression by a third country.
“The involvement of the North Koreans in the fighting did not have a significant impact,” however, Yevgen Ierin, the spokesperson for Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR), told AFP on Tuesday.
According to him, North Korean troops do not have the experience of modern warfare, particularly in the face of drones that have become omnipresent on the battlefield, and use “more primitive tactics, from the Second World War or the post-World War II.
On the diplomatic front, Slovakia confirmed on Friday that it agreed to host peace talks on Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin having previously deemed it “acceptable” for it to become a “platform” for dialogue.
“If anyone wants to hold peace talks in Slovakia, we will be ready and we will be welcoming,” Prime Minister Robert Fico said.
