North Korean security services are telling their troops stationed in Russia's Kursk Oblast that they are fighting against both the Ukrainian and South Korean militaries, South Korean newspaper Chosun Daily reported, citing captured North Korean soldiers.
Two North Korean prisoners of war, captured by Ukrainian forces last month, spoke exclusively to Chosun Daily at a prisoner-of-war (POW) camp in Ukraine.
One of the captives admitted that he and his fellow soldiers believed they were fighting South Korean troops, which heightened their morale and aggression.
Each battalion, consisting of about 500 soldiers, was monitored by one or two officers from North Korea's State Security Ministry, one of the prisoners said. These officers oversaw ideological training and discipline.
They reportedly informed their soldiers that Ukrainian drone operators were South Korean military personnel.
Seoul has not provided military aid to Kyiv since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion.
Up to 12,000 North Korean troops were deployed to Kursk Oblast last fall to support Russian forces in countering a Ukrainian incursion launched in August 2024.
Their journey to Russia took several months, with a group of 2,500 North Koreans departing on Oct. 10, 2024, traveling by train, then by plane, and finally by bus to Kursk, where they arrived in mid-December, according to one of the captives.
The other captured soldier, a sniper trained for reconnaissance, said contact between North Korean troops and Russian forces was minimal, with interaction mainly occurring at the command level for ammunition, supplies, and equipment.
President Volodymyr Zelensky previously reported that North Korean forces fighting for Russia had suffered 4,000 casualties, with two-thirds of the losses being soldiers killed.
Ukraine's military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, attributed the high losses to North Korea's lack of combat experience and its use of human wave attacks with limited equipment.
Ukraine's cross-border incursion into Kursk Oblast in August 2024 initially seized 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) of Russian territory.
While Ukrainian forces have since lost roughly half that area due to Russian counterattacks, they recently advanced 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) in a renewed offensive.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
