The photo allegedly shows a North Korean soldier captured by the AFU. Photo: UNIAN / Telegram
The first North Korean soldier captured by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in Russia’s Kursk region has died of his injuries, news agency Yonhap reported on Friday, quoting the South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS).
News of his capture emerged earlier on Friday, when the NIS said it had confirmed the soldier’s capture “through real-time information sharing with a friendly nation’s intelligence organisation”.
The authorities in Russia, Ukraine and North Korea have not yet commented on the reports.
Russia has actively sought North Korean assistance in its war in Ukraine in recent months. In early November, The New York Times reported that Moscow had sent about 50,000 Russian and North Korean soldiers to the country’s western Kursk region in preparation for a counterattack to reclaim areas conquered by Ukrainian forces since August.
North Korea has suffered 1,100 casualties in the Russian-Ukrainian war, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said on 23 December, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed or wounded in fighting in the Kursk region.
South Korean intelligence said in October that North Korea had sent 12,000 troops to the war in Ukraine, including special forces units. Zelensky confirmed the figure.
Russian pro-war military correspondents reported on 13 December that North Korean soldiers had gone into battle with the AFU in the Kursk region for the first time.
