ON SATURDAY, UKRAINE’S President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared an interrogation video, taken of two wounded North Korean soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces.

The soldiers claimed they were told they were being deployed for military exercises, not to fight with Ukraine. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) confirmed the capture on Sunday, noting the soldiers were caught in Russia’s Kursk region. Until now,  North Korean troops’ involvement in the war remained unverified.

In a video released by Ukraine’s president, the first soldier says he does not know where he is. A translation in the video shows him being told he is in Ukraine. He replies that his commanders have told them it was just training. The second soldier says he has a family, but they don’t know where he is. Both are also asked if they want to return to the DPRK. One replies yes, the other says he wants to live in Ukraine. 

In addition to the first captured soldiers from North Korea, there will undoubtedly be more. It’s only a matter of time before our troops manage to capture others. There should be no doubt left in the world that the Russian army is dependent on military assistance from North… pic.twitter.com/4RyCfUoHoC

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 12, 2025

Zelenskyy suggested there may be alternative options for North Korean soldiers who don’t wish to return home.

“There may be other options available,” he said in the X post with the video.

“In particular, those who express a desire to bring peace closer by spreading the truth about this war in Korea will be given that opportunity.”

However, he has since said he would also be open to an exchange of prisoners of war (POWs) with Russia. 

North Korea’s military involvement in Ukraine began in mid-October 2024, when South Korean intelligence reported the deployment of 10,000-12,000 troops to support Russia. On 23 October 2024, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed American evidence of North Korean forces in Russia, whose intentions were initially ‘unknown’.

During the BRICS summit in Kazan on 24 October, Putin’s response to questions about satellite images of North Korean troops marked a significant shift from previous denials. “Images are a serious thing. If there are images, then they reflect something,” he stated. That same day, Russia’s State Duma ratified a strategic partnership agreement with North Korea, with Article 4 committing both countries to “immediately provide military and other assistance by all means” if attacked.

The scale of North Korean casualties emerged today, when South Korean deputy Lee Seong-Kweun briefed the National Intelligence Service (NIS). According to NIS, approximately 300 North Korean soldiers have died and 2,700 have been wounded in Ukraine. The Northern Korean soldiers are mostly deployed in the Kursk region, where Russian forces have been building up defensive positions.

In August 2024, the Ukrainians attacked a part of Russia known as the Kursk region for the first time since Moscow invaded them. Ukrainian troops are looking to do damage to Russia’s military, capture soldiers, push artillery out of range, and crimp supply lines to Ukraine’s eastern front.

As of October 2024, North Korea has sent about 12,000 troops to help Russia — that move has offered Pyongyang economic benefits through military cooperation. The fighting is expected to continue into 2025, marking the war’s expansion into a broader international conflict.

North Korea, a highly isolated dictatorship, has been supporting Russia’s war efforts since 2022. Troops and artillery ammunition are being supplied to Russia while North Korea is getting substantial compensation. South Korean intelligence states that the sale of artillery shells alone can provide North Korea with the means to buy hundreds of thousands of tons of rice. North Korean soldiers earn nearly $2,000 per month in Russia, a sum unimaginable in their homeland.

The two captured soldiers are receiving medical treatment. Ukraine’s Security Service noted that one carried a Russian military ID registered to a person from the Republic of Tuva. The other didn’t have documents at all. The prisoners, who speak neither Ukrainian, English, nor Russian, are being held according to international law, with Korean interpreters facilitating communication in cooperation with South Korean intelligence services, according to statements from the Ukrainians.

The Kremlin declined to comment on Kyiv saying it had captured the North Korean soldiers. Zelensky has since suggested he was ready to exchange them for Ukrainian POWs.

“We cannot comment in any way, we do not know what is true there,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, after Kyiv over the weekend published videos of two alleged North Korean soldiers being interrogated in Korean.

“We continue to discuss the possibility of exchanges, which is not easy work.. but for us the life of every Russian soldier is important,” Peskov added.

With reporting by AFP