SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – South Korea’s intelligence agency told lawmakers Monday that two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces while fighting with Russian troops in Russia’s Kursk border region have expressed a desire to seek asylum in South Korea. He said he did not.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he is willing to hand over soldiers to North Korea if the country’s authoritarian leader, Kim Jong Un, arranges an exchange for Ukrainian prisoners in Russia. President Zelenskiy said one of the North Korean soldiers wanted to remain in Ukraine, while the other wanted to return to his homeland, a statement consistent with a video interview released by the country’s government. .
“If Kim Jong Un remembers these people and can organize an exchange with our soldiers held in Russia, we are ready to transfer such soldiers. Yes, there will definitely be more prisoners from North Korea,” President Zelenskiy said in a speech late Sunday. In another post on social media platform X, he said North Korean prisoners of war who do not wish to return “may have other options.”
Read more: North Korean military suffers heavy battlefield losses in Russia, Ukrainian intelligence says
In a closed-door conference at the South Korean National Assembly, the National Intelligence Service confirmed the participation of Ukrainian authorities in interrogating North Korean soldiers. The agency said the soldiers had not expressed a desire to be resettled in South Korea, according to two lawmakers who attended the meeting.
The agency said it was ready to discuss the issue with Ukrainian authorities if the soldiers ultimately wanted to go to South Korea. Some 34,000 North Koreans have fled to capitalist rival South Korea, many since the late 1990s, to escape economic hardship and political repression at home.
Koo Byung-sam, a spokesperson for South Korea’s Ministry of Unification, which is in charge of inter-Korean affairs, said that facilitating the defection of North Korean soldiers would require “legal considerations, including international law, and consultations with relevant countries.”
“There is nothing I can say at this stage,” Koo said.
Approximately 300 North Korean soldiers died in battle, Seoul announces
South Korean intelligence estimates that about 300 North Korean soldiers were killed and another 2,700 injured in the fighting with Ukrainian forces, marking the first time North Korea has engaged in a major conflict since the 1950-53 Korean War. It means being involved.
The agency assessed that North Koreans have struggled to adapt to drones and other elements of modern warfare. According to Lee Sung Geun, a member of parliament who attended the agency’s briefing, the Russian military commanders’ shoddy tactics meant that they were launched into offensive operations without providing any logistical support, making the situation even worse. That’s what it means.
Lee said notes found on the dead North Korean soldiers indicate they were ordered to commit suicide before being captured, authorities said. The agency said a North Korean soldier, in danger of being captured by Ukrainian forces, shouted “General Kim Jong Un” and tried to detonate a grenade, but was shot and killed.
President Zelensky announced on Saturday that Ukraine, facing a slow Russian onslaught in the east, launched a new offensive on Kursk to hold onto land captured in the August lightning strikes. Confirmed the detention of Korean soldiers. This was the world’s first occupation of Russian territory. World War II.
Russian counterattacks have expanded and demoralized Ukrainian forces, left thousands of people dead and wounded, and recaptured more than 40% of the 984 square kilometers (380 square miles) of Kursk occupied by Ukraine.
North Koreans struggle to adapt to Kursk terrain and modern warfare
Moon Sung-mook, a retired South Korean brigadier general, said the high death toll among North Korean soldiers was predictable and that they would not have been adequately prepared for the unfamiliar mission in the Kursk region’s terrain, which is very different from that of North Korea. said. mountainous landscape.
Another disadvantage for North Korea is that even though it does not conduct any operations of its own, it is being called into battle under Russian commanders, possibly due to unfamiliar tactics or due to the language barrier. It is struggling with communication issues, said Moon, who has participated in numerous military talks with North Korea. South Korea. He said the North Korean military may be operating special surveillance teams to arrest or execute attempted deserters.
“The current battlefield environment, combined with drones and other technologies, creates a situation that North Korean soldiers have never experienced before,” President Moon said. “They are also deployed in large numbers in large open fields with nowhere to hide in the ongoing battle to retake the area, which appears to be where casualties are coming from.”
North Korea’s decades-long financial crisis has forced many soldiers to grow homegrown food or spend long hours on construction and other tasks to keep the national economy afloat, leaving the country alone. Moon said it may also be affecting the quality of the training they receive.
Still, in Seoul, North Korea’s participation in the Ukraine crisis is a sign that North Korea’s participation in the Ukraine crisis is likely to increase in South Korea, as the North Korean military could gain significant combat experience and Russia could provide technology transfers that could strengthen North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. There are concerns that it may pose a serious threat to
Associated Press writer Samiya Crabb in Kiev, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
