Ukrainian forces have captured a wounded North Korean soldier sent to support Russia’s war effort, South Korea’s spy agency confirmed Friday.
The soldier is believed to be the first North Korean prisoner of war captured since December, when Pyongyang deployed forces to support Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The confirmation comes after a photo purportedly showing a wounded soldier was circulated on Telegram.
North Korea has sent more than 10,000 troops to help Russia, according to Kiev and Seoul – although Moscow and Pyongyang have neither confirmed nor denied their presence.
“This is the first in a series of captures and killings,” Jang Uk, a researcher at the Asia Institute of Policy Studies, told the BBC. “It is more beneficial for the Ukrainians to capture these North Korean troops and try to exchange them with the Russians for Ukrainian prisoners of war.”
Recent images from the Russian-Ukrainian war have confirmed speculation that “North Korean troops will be deployed in large numbers in an attack by the Russian command,” Yang said.
However, he added that “it will be a challenge to prove their North Korean nationality.”
Ukrainian forces say North Korean soldiers have been issued fake Russian IDs, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week released a video showing Russian troops burning the faces of slain North Koreans to conceal their identities.
Ukrainian and South Korean intelligence have said many of the troops deployed in Russia are some of Pyongyang’s best, drawn from the 11th Corps, also known as the Storm Corps. The unit is trained for infiltration, infrastructure sabotage and assassination.
More than 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded in the fighting in Russia’s Kursk region, Zelensky said on Monday.
He added that cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang increases the “risk of destabilization” around the Korean Peninsula.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The recent deployment of North Korean troops to Russia is a sign of the growing alliance between the two pariahs.
The development, which comes as North Korea raises tensions with South Korea, has raised concerns in the West. China, a longtime ally of both sides, is also closely monitoring the friendship.
Additional reporting by Jake Kwon
