Ukraine's Special Operations Forces repelled an assault by North Korean troops in Russia's Kursk Oblast, the unit's press service said on Jan. 13, claiming to have killed 17 North Korean soldiers.
North Korean troops were deployed to Kursk Oblast last fall to support Russian forces in countering a Ukrainian incursion launched on Aug. 6. Ukrainian troops have continued fighting in the region, leveraging their positions for potential future negotiations.
The battle, the date of which remains undisclosed, lasted from morning until night. The unit released a video of the engagement, showing what are said to be dead and dying North Korean soldiers.
A Ukrainian mopping-up group encountered one surviving North Korean fighter who had set an unsuccessful trap. The soldier attempted to mislead the Ukrainian soldiers and then detonated a grenade to avoid capture, fatally injuring himself, according to the Special Operations Forces.
South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) claimed that North Korean casualties have already reached 300 soldiers killed and 2,700 wounded. The NIS attributed the casualties to their lack of modern warfare training, including ineffective efforts to combat long-range drones.
The NIS further alleged that North Korean soldiers had been forced to commit suicide to avoid capture by Ukrainian forces, a claim echoed by White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby on Dec. 27. Kirby said that captured North Korean troops fear their families would face severe retaliation if they surrendered.
On Jan. 11, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the capture of two North Korean soldiers in Kursk Oblast. The prisoners of war (POWs), identified by the NIS as members of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, North Korea's military intelligence agency, are in Ukrainian custody and receiving medical treatment.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
(Updated: )
