SEOUL, Jan. 13 (UPI) — At least 300 North Korean soldiers sent to aid Russia in its war against Ukraine have been killed and 2,700 have been injured, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers on Monday.
The National Intelligence Service shared the figures at a closed-door briefing with the parliamentary intelligence committee, Rep. Lee Seong-kweun of the ruling People Power Party said at a press briefing.
The large number of casualties was due to the North Koreans’ “lack of understanding of modern warfare,” the NIS said, according to Lee.
Footage reviewed by the spy agency revealed the North Korean troops engaging in “pointless” shooting at long-range drones and launching attacks without fire support from the rear.
The NIS also said that North Korea has been instructing its troops to kill themselves rather than being captured alive by the Ukrainian military, according to notes found on some of the war dead.
More than 12,000 North Korean soldiers have been deployed to Russia, with many joining battles on the frontlines in Kursk Oblast, U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Dorothy Shea told a U.N. Security Council briefing last week.
On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shared video footage on social media of two North Korean soldiers who were captured while fighting alongside Russian forces.
Zelensky said that Ukraine would be willing to exchange the soldiers for Ukrainian captives and suggested that there would be other options for North Korean troops who did not wish to return.
“Ukraine is ready to hand over Kim Jong Un’s soldiers to him if he can organize their exchange for our warriors who are being held captive in Russia,” Zelensky wrote on X.
“In particular, those who express a desire to bring peace closer by spreading the truth about this war in Korean will be given that opportunity,” he added.
In the three-minute-long video, a captured North Korean soldier tells an interviewer that he didn’t know he was being sent to fight against Ukraine.
“I was told we were going to do training,” he said.
When asked if he wanted to go home to North Korea, the soldier said that he wanted to stay in Ukraine.
The NIS assessed that the two soldiers in the video were members of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, an intelligence organ of the North Korean military.
“They stated that they were notified by the North Korean authorities they would be treated as heroes,” the NIS said, according to Rep. Lee.
