Some 300 North Korean soldiers have been killed while fighting in Russia’s war against Ukraine, a South Korean legislator has said.
Added to the 300 deaths are about “2,700 injuries”, Lee Seong-kweun told reporters on Monday, after a briefing from Seoul’s National Intelligence Service (NIS).
“The deployment of North Korean troops to Russia has reportedly expanded to include the Kursk region, with estimates suggesting that casualties among North Korean forces have surpassed 3,000,” Lee said.
The NIS analysis also revealed that the North Korean soldiers have “a lack of understanding of modern warfare” and are being used by Russia in a manner leading to “the high number of casualties”, the legislator added.
The statement from the South Korean politician comes days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv had captured two North Korean soldiers, releasing a video of the injured fighters being interrogated.
Zelenskyy said Kyiv is “ready to hand over” the captured North Korean soldiers in exchange for Ukrainian prisoners of war held in Russia.
Seoul has previously claimed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has sent more than 10,000 soldiers as “cannon fodder” to help Moscow fight Kyiv, in return for Russian technical assistance for Pyongyang’s heavily sanctioned weapons and satellite programmes.
Russia has neither confirmed nor denied their presence.
No desire to defect
The NIS said the two captured soldiers have not expressed a request to defect or resettle in South Korea, according to two legislators who attended Monday’s briefing.
The agency said it was willing to discuss the matter with Ukrainian authorities if the soldiers eventually do ask to go to South Korea.
About 34,000 North Koreans have defected to capitalist rival South Korea to avoid economic hardship and political suppression at home, mostly since the late 1990s.
Koo Byoungsam, spokesperson of South Korea’s Ministry of Unification that handles inter-Korean affairs, said facilitating the asylum of the North Korean soldiers would require “legal reviews, including on international law, and consultations with related nations”.
“There’s nothing we can say at the current stage,” Koo said.
Moreover, the soldiers, reportedly from North Korea’s elite Storm Corps, have been ordered to kill themselves rather than be taken prisoner, Lee said.
“Notably, memos found on deceased soldiers indicate that the North Korean authorities pressured them to commit suicide or self-detonate before capture,” he said.
He added that some of the soldiers had been granted “amnesty” or wanted to join North Korea’s governing Workers’ Party, hoping to improve their lot by fighting.
One North Korean soldier who was about to be captured shouted “General Kim Jong Un” and attempted to detonate a grenade, Lee said, adding that he was shot and killed.
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