A South Korean lawmaker, briefed by the nation’s spy agency, revealed on Monday that North Korean troop casualties in Ukraine have likely surpassed 3,000, including 300 deaths and 2,700 injuries.
North Korean authorities appear to have called for its troops to commit suicide by blowing themselves up to evade capture, the lawmaker said citing the National Intelligence Service (NIS).
Captured North Korean soldiers had not shown an intention to come to South Korea, though South Korea would cooperate with Ukraine if there was a request, Yonhap news agency also reported, citing NIS.
North Korean Soldiers Captured
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that Ukraine had taken two North Koreans prisoner in Russia’s Kursk region, the first time Ukraine has announced the capture of North Korean soldiers alive since their entry into the nearly three-year-old war last autumn.
“In addition to the first captured soldiers from North Korea, there will undoubtedly be more. It’s only a matter of time before our troops manage to capture others,” Zelenskyy said on the social media platform X.
Ukrainian and Western assessments say that some 11,000 troops from Russia’s ally North Korea have been deployed in the Kursk region to support Moscow’s forces. Russia has neither confirmed nor denied their presence.
Zelenskyy has said Russian and North Korean forces had suffered massive casualties fighting Ukraine.
He posted a short video showing the interrogation of two men who are presented as North Korean soldiers.
One of the men said through an interpreter that he did not know he was fighting against Ukraine and had been told he was on a training exercise.
Reuters could not verify the video.
Zelenskyy Offers Exchange
Zelenskyy said on Sunday Kyiv is ready to release captured North Korean soldiers to their leader Kim Jong Un if he can facilitate their exchange for Ukrainians held captive in Russia.
“Ukraine is ready to hand over Kim Jong Un’s soldiers to him if he can organise their exchange for our warriors who are being held captive in Russia,” Zelenskyy said.
(With inputs from Reuters)
