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Agence France-Presse

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service on Sunday backed up Ukraine’s account of having captured two wounded North Korean soldiers this week in Russia, after Kyiv said they were being questioned.
Ukraine, the United States and South Korea have accused nuclear-armed North Korea of sending more than 10,000 soldiers to help bolster Russian forces.
Seoul’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) said in a statement it has “confirmed that the Ukrainian military captured two North Korean soldiers on January 9 in the Kursk battlefield in Russia”.
On Saturday, Ukrainian intelligence (SBU) released a video showing the two men in hospital bunks, one with bandaged hands and the other with a bandaged jaw.
A doctor at the detention centre said the first man also had a broken leg.
The SBU said the men had told interrogators they were experienced army soldiers, and one said he was sent to Russia for training, not fighting.
But Kyiv did not present direct evidence that the captured men were North Korean and Agence France-Presse was unable to independently verify their nationalities.
South Korea’s confirmation added weight to Kyiv’s account.


The NIS similarly said one of the captured soldiers revealed during his interrogation that he received military training from Russian forces after arriving there in November.
“He initially believed he was being sent for training, realising upon arrival in Russia that he had been deployed,” the NIS said.
The soldier said North Korean forces had experienced “significant losses during battle”.
According to Seoul’s intelligence agency, one of the men “went without food or water for four to five days before being captured”.
The NIS said it would continue to work with the SBU to share information on North Korean fighters in Ukraine.
Neither Russia nor North Korea has reacted to the intelligence accounts.
Russia and North Korea have boosted their military ties since Moscow’s invasion, though neither has confirmed that Pyongyang’s forces are fighting for Moscow.
On a visit to Seoul this month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington believed Russia was expanding space cooperation with North Korea in exchange for its troop contribution in fighting Ukraine.
“The DPRK is already receiving Russian military equipment and training. Now we have reason to believe that Moscow intends to share advanced space and satellite technology with Pyongyang,” Blinken told a news conference in Seoul, using the North’s official name.
Repeating an assertion recently made by the US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Blinken said the US also believed that Russia “may be close” to formally accepting North Korea’s status as a nuclear power.

The assertion came as North Korea test-fired a new hypersonic missile while Blinken was visiting the US ally.
Zelensky said last month that nearly 3,000 North Korean soldiers had been “killed or wounded” there, while Seoul put the figure at 1,000.
The NIS told the country’s lawmakers last month that “several North Korean casualties” had already been attributed to Ukrainian missile and drone attacks as well as training accidents, with the highest ranking “at least at the level of a general”.
Due to losses among its forces, North Korea is preparing for additional deployment to Ukraine, according to Seoul’s military.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement last month that Pyongyang is reportedly “preparing for the rotation or additional deployment of soldiers” to aid Russia’s war effort.
Pyongyang and Moscow have deepened political, military and cultural ties since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un repeatedly professing their personal closeness.
In a New Year’s letter, Kim hailed Putin and made a possible reference to the war in Ukraine.
He said 2025 would be the year “when the Russian army and people defeat neo-Nazism and achieve a great victory”.


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Seoul confirms Ukraine captured 2 North Korean soldiers

Ukraine war

A photograph obtained from the Telegram account of V_Zelenskiy_official shows soldier it said was North Korean detained at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. Photo: AFP

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky says the North Koreans have suffered at least 3,000 casualties since joining the war. Photo: TNS

Ukraine’s captured North Korean soldiers reveal DPRK’s role in Russia’s war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting at the Quirinal Palace in Rome, Italy, on Friday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during a signing ceremony of a new partnership in Pyongyang, North Korea, on June 19, 2024. Photo: AP

A closed meeting of the National Assembly’s intelligence committee on North Korea’s involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war, in Seoul, South Korea, on December 19. Photo: EPA-EFE

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin walk past children during a welcoming ceremony at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang on June 19, 2024. Photo: AFP

Why the US will not allow a nuclear-armed South Korea

(From left) Incoming commander General Xavier Brunson, outgoing commander General Paul LaCamera, US Navy admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, and South Korea’s acting defence minister Kim Seon-ho inspect troops during a change-of-command ceremony for the United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command, and United States Forces Korea at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, on December 20. Photo: EPA-EFE

Military helicopters are parked at US Army base Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, on August 9, 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE

Ukraine fighting helps North Korea prepare to wage war in Asia, US warns

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un meets soldiers during a visit to a training base in North Korea in March 2024. Photo:  KCNA via AP

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It comes after Ukraine released footage of two captured men, reportedly North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia


It comes after Ukraine released footage of two captured men, reportedly North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia.


North Korea

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Ukraine

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