the first North Korean soldier captured by kyiv died of his wounds

Its capture, announced a few hours earlier by South Korean intelligence, was a first since the engagement of Pyongyang’s troops alongside the Russian army.

A North Korean soldier captured by Ukrainian forces died from his injuries, the South Korean intelligence agency announced on Friday, December 27. This same source had reported, a little earlier in the day, the capture of this prisoner, the first since the deployment of troops by North Korea to fight Ukraine in support of Russia.

“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,” say the South Korean intelligence services.

The detention of a North Korean soldier is a first since kyiv and the West reported the participation of troops from Pyongyang in the fighting. The involvement of a regular foreign army constituted a major escalation of the conflict, which is approaching a critical phase with the imminent return of Donald Trump to the White House.

According to Ukraine, 12,000 North Korean troops, 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 confirmed the presence of this contingent.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that nearly 3,000 North Korean troops had been “killed or injured” in Russia. Seoul, for its part, cited a lower count of 1,100 “killed or injured”.

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 at the beginning of December. He plans “immediate military aid” in the event of armed attack by a third country.