Ukrainian forces have captured an injured North Korean soldier who was despatched to help Russia’s battle, South Korea’s spy company confirmed on Friday.
The soldier is believed to be the primary North Korean prisoner of battle captured since December, when Pyongyang deployed forces to help Russia’s battle in Ukraine.
The affirmation comes after a photograph purporting to point out the wounded soldier circulated on Telegram.
North Korea has despatched greater than 10,000 troopers to assist Russia, in keeping with Kyiv and Seoul – although Moscow and Pyongyang have neither confirmed nor denied their presence.
“That is the primary one in a string of captures and killings,” Yang Uk, a analysis fellow on the Asian Institute for Coverage Research, instructed the ORIONEWS. “For Ukrainians, it is extra useful to seize these North Korean troops and attempt to alternate them with Russians for Ukrainian prisoners of battle.”
Current photographs rising from the Russia-Ukraine battle confirmed speculations that “North Korean troops will probably be deployed in massive numbers to the assault by Russian command,” Mr Yang mentioned.
He additionally added, nonetheless, that “it is going to be difficult to show their North Korean nationality”.
Ukrainian forces say that North Korean troopers have been issued pretend Russian IDs, whereas Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted footage final week which he mentioned confirmed Russian troops burning the faces of slain North Koreans to hide their identities.
Over 3,000 North Korean troops have died or been wounded whereas preventing in Russia’s Kursk area, Zelensky mentioned Monday.
He added that the collaboration between Moscow and Pyongyang heightens the “danger of destabilisation” across the Korean peninsula.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The latest deployment of North Korean troops to Russia is an indication of a rising alliance between the 2 pariah states.
The event, which comes as North Korea ratchets up tensions with South Korea, has sparked worries within the West. China, a longstanding ally of each side, can be retaining a cautious eye on the friendship.
Extra reporting by Jake Kwon