Why North Korean soldiers are killing themselves on Ukraine battlefields

SECTIONS

ET OnlineLast Updated: Jan 15, 2025, 02:38:00 PM IST

Font Size

Save

Comment

Synopsis

North Korean soldiers are helping Russia in the war against Ukraine. Evidence suggests they resort to self-detonation and suicide to avoid being captured. Ukrainian forces found a North Korean soldier detonate a grenade on himself. There are reports of North Korean soldiers being instructed to commit suicide to avoid capture by Ukrainian troops.

North Korean troops — According to Ukrainian and Western assessments, approximately 11,000 North Korean soldiers are deployed in Russia's Kursk region.

Ukrainian special forces reported encountering a North Korean soldier who detonated a grenade, killing himself, after a battle in the Kursk region this week. This incident, shared on social media by Ukraine's Special Operations Forces, highlights increasing evidence of extreme measures taken by some North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russian forces.

Budget with ET

India’s growing trade imbalance with China: Can Budget 2025 provide a solution?

Will Chandrababu Naidu-ruled Andhra Pradesh continue to be Modi govt's focus point?

Tax cuts, tariff, growth strategies top Indian industry's Budget wish list

According to Ukrainian and Western assessments, approximately 11,000 North Korean soldiers are deployed in Russia's Kursk region. Ukraine claims over 3,000 North Korean casualties. This deployment marks North Korea's most significant involvement in a foreign conflict since the Korean War.

A former North Korean soldier who defected to South Korea in 2022 told Reuters, “Self-detonation and suicides: that's the reality about North Korea.” He added, “These soldiers who left home for a fight there have been brainwashed and are truly ready to sacrifice themselves for Kim Jong Un.” Kim previously worked for the North Korean military in Russia on construction projects.

Ukraine recently released videos of two captured North Korean soldiers, one expressing a desire to remain in Ukraine and the other wanting to return home. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy offered to return captured North Koreans to Kim Jong Un in exchange for Ukrainian captives held in Russia.

South Korean lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun, briefed by the country's spy agency, said battlefield casualties suggest North Korean troops are ill-prepared for modern warfare and may be used as "cannon fodder." He also cited instances of North Korean soldiers choosing suicide over capture, including one who "shouted for General Kim Jong Un and pulled out a grenade." He attributed this information to Ukrainian intelligence shared with South Korea's National Intelligence Service. The NIS did not comment.

Kim, the North Korean defector, explained the implications of capture for these soldiers: “Becoming a prisoner of war means treason. Being captured means you are a traitor. Leave one last bullet, that's what we are talking about in the military.”

Inputs from Reuters

(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)