The notebook found by Ukrainian special forces shows the deep indoctrination of North Korean soldiers.getty/watson
Ukrainian special forces claim to have got their hands on extracts from the diary of a North Korean officer killed on the front near Kursk.
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A few lines drawn in black ink, in Korean, on yellowed paper.
“Having left my country and being in Russia, I wish my good friend Song Ji-myung a happy birthday and good health. December 9, 2024 »
This is how it begins the last testimony of Gyong Hong-jong, a North Korean officer who fell on the front near Kurskexhumed by Ukrainian special forces and published on December 24.
The soldier, sent to Russia under a false Tuvan identity to hide Pyongyang’s involvement, confesses in his notebook a mysterious fault, a political sin: “I committed a very serious fault by protecting the comrade supreme commander, even if it meant betraying.”
His punishment? An armed exile in Russia. A redemption through sacrifice, which hardly seems to bother the officer, who always expresses his loyalty to the Kim Jong-Un regime.
“I will join the front lines of this operation and sacrifice my life. I will unconditionally follow the orders of Comrade Supreme Commander”
Gyong Hong-jong
Survival and combat tactics manual
Beyond the words of contrition, the notebook reveals an archaic, but precise, North Korean military discipline. For example, a rudimentary diagram explains how to hijack and destroy an FPV drone: one soldier attracts the device, while two others stand ready to shoot it down. Another scribbled tactic: survive under bombardment by dispersing into small groups or taking refuge in still smoking craters.
“As the artillery does not fire at the same point, you can hide at the (previous) point of impact and then exit the firing zone”
These fragments tell more than just an individual story. They reveal a discreet but growing alliance between Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin. After sending millions of shells, North Korea deployed around 10,000 troops last October. A strategic maneuver. For Russia, to fill the gaps in a bloodless army, for North Korea, to offer its men an experience of fire that they have not known since 1953.
On this end of the front, North Korean soldiers fell by the hundreds, sacrificed for a cause that was not theirs. However, Gyong Hong-jong still seems to believe in the price of sacrifice:
“Defending the homeland is a sacred duty, the highest mission”
Words of glacial fidelity, lost somewhere between the muddy trenches and drone-streaked skies. According to the Ukrainian army, around 1,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or injured since their involvement in the conflict began. (mbr)
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