Ukrainian forces have captured an injured North Korean soldier who was despatched to help Russia’s warfare, South Korea’s spy company confirmed on Friday.
The soldier is believed to be the primary North Korean prisoner of warfare captured since December, when Pyongyang deployed forces to help Russia’s warfare in Ukraine.
The affirmation comes after a photograph purporting to point out the wounded soldier circulated on Telegram.
North Korea has despatched greater than 10,000 troopers to assist Russia, in line with Kyiv and Seoul – although Moscow and Pyongyang have neither confirmed nor denied their presence.
“That is the primary one in a string of captures and killings,” Yang Uk, a analysis fellow on the Asian Institute for Coverage Research, informed the BBC. “For Ukrainians, it is extra useful to seize these North Korean troops and attempt to change them with Russians for Ukrainian prisoners of warfare.”
Latest photographs rising from the Russia-Ukraine warfare confirmed speculations that “North Korean troops might be deployed in massive numbers to the assault by Russian command,” Mr Yang stated.
He additionally added, nevertheless, that “it will likely be difficult to show their North Korean nationality”.
Ukrainian forces say that North Korean troopers have been issued faux Russian IDs, whereas Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed earlier this month that Russian troopers had been noticed burning the faces of North Koreans who died in battle – allegedly to hide their identities.
Over 3,000 North Korean troops have died or been wounded whereas combating in Russia’s Kursk area, Zelenskyy stated Monday.
He added that the collaboration between Moscow and Pyongyang heightens the “threat of destabilisation” across the Korean peninsula.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The latest deployment of North Korean troops to Russia is an indication of a rising alliance between the 2 pariah states.
The event, which comes as North Korea ratchets up tensions with South Korea, has sparked worries within the West. China, a longstanding ally of each side, can be keeping a cautious eye on the friendship.
Further reporting by Jake Kwon
