A North Korean soldier identified by his surname “Ri,” who was captured while fighting for Russia, told South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo on Wednesday that he wants to “apply for asylum and go to South Korea.”
“Do you think they’ll accept me?” Ri plaintively asked the journalists who interviewed him at a prisoner of war camp in Ukraine.
Chosun Ilbo interviewed two North Korean prisoners at the camp, recon sniper Ri and a rifleman named Baek. Both were in their twenties, although Ri was a bit older and more experienced. They were sent to Russia’s Kursk province to fight on Moscow’s behalf in two separate deployments last fall. Ri said his group included about 2,500 North Korean soldiers.
“We were told we were here for training, not to fight. When we arrived in Kursk, we were informed otherwise,” he said.
Ri’s account of his misadventures in Kursk made it clear that North Korean mercenaries suffered greatly from their military’s lack of actual combat experience – and they were completely unprepared for the sudden and vicious nature of drone warfare, while both Ukrainian and Russian forces have honed their drone skills during two years of combat.
Ukrainian intelligence reports indicate heavy casualties among the North Korean forces shipped to Kursk, particularly from drone attacks, which the North Koreans seemed completely unable to defend themselves against.
Ri confirmed that North Korean forces also suffered from communication issues with their Russian superiors, which led to serious chain-of-command problems. The Russians seem to have regarded their North Korean reinforcements as a separate and inferior force, rather than integrating them fully into strategic operations.
In their defense, the Russians may have underestimated how xenophobic the captive citizens of the hideous Kim regime in North Korea have become after decades of deprivation, terror, and indoctrination.
“We used smartphone translators to communicate. It was the first time I ever used such technology. In North Korea, we never interacted with foreigners,” Ri said.
One interesting detail revealed in Ri’s interview is that Russia has been telling its North Korean mercenaries that Ukraine’s drone fleet is operated by South Koreans, appealing to their hatred for the South Korean government to motivate them. North Korean subjects are thoroughly shielded from outside news, so the Ukrainians’ formidable skill with drone warfare would be unknown to them.
Another way Pyongyang ensures the loyalty of its subjects is to threaten their families. Ri told Chosun Ilbo he feared his parents would suffer if the Kim regime learns he has been captured.
South Korean officials said Wednesday they would probably accept Ri’s application for asylum. Members of South Korea’s governing People Power Party (PPP) have called for accepting all defectors among the North Korean troops sent to Russia, and blasted leaders of the opposition Democratic Party for refusing to embrace the asylum-seekers.
“I condemn the North Korean regime of Kim Jong-un, which has pushed young, vibrant youths into a harsh battlefield. When we extend our hands, 80% of the determination of these youths wishing to come to South Korea after applying for refugee status can become 100%,” PPP lawmaker Kim Gun wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.
Kim urged the South Korean government to “initiate procedures to ensure the safety and human rights protection” of defectors, as outlined in a bill passed by the South Korean legislature in November.
The bill in question allows the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs to expedite the asylum process for North Korean military defectors, in the hope that many of those sent to fight in Russia might request asylum after being captured. A possible complication is that international law generally treats captured soldiers as prisoners of war who should be repatriated to their home countries as quickly as possible.
