North Korea's Suicide Squad is a New Problem for Ukraine Against Russia

January 15, 2025 | 11:37 am

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - After a battle in the snowy Kursk region of Russia this week, Ukrainian special forces inspected the bodies of more than a dozen killed North Korean enemy soldiers.

In a social media post on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, Ukrainian Special Operations Forces reported that one man was still alive among the bodies. But as they approached, he detonated a grenade and blew himself up.

The force said its soldiers escaped the blast unharmed.

Amid mounting evidence from the battlefield, intelligence reports and defector testimony, some North Korean soldiers are resorting to extreme measures because they support Russia’s three-year war with Ukraine.

“Blowing themselves up and committing suicide: that’s the reality of North Korea,” said Kim, a 32-year-old former North Korean soldier who defected to South Korea in 2022, according to Reuters.

Kim asked to be identified only by his last name because he fears retribution against his family in the North.

"The soldiers who left home to fight there have been brainwashed and are ready to sacrifice themselves for Kim Jong Un," he said, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whom he described as a loner.

Kim, who was introduced to Reuters by Seoul-based human rights group NK Imprisonment Victims' Family Association, said he had worked for the North Korean military in Russia for about seven years until 2021 on construction projects to earn foreign currency for the regime.

Ukrainian and Western assessments say Pyongyang has deployed about 11,000 troops to support Moscow's forces in the Kursk region of western Russia, which Ukraine seized in a surprise attack last year. More than 3,000 people have been killed or wounded, Kyiv said.

North Korea's mission to the United Nations in Geneva did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Moscow and Pyongyang initially dismissed reports of the North Korean troop deployment as "fake news". But Russian President Vladimir Putin in October did not deny that North Korean troops were currently in Russia and a North Korean official said such a deployment would be legal.

Ukraine this week released a video claiming to be of two captured North Korean soldiers. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said one of the soldiers had expressed his desire to stay in Ukraine, and the other wanted to return to North Korea.

“One Last Bullet”

North Korea’s troop deployment to Russia is its first major involvement in a war since the 1950-53 Korean War. North Korea reportedly sent much smaller contingents to the Vietnam War and the civil conflict in Syria.

The United States has warned that the experience in Russia will make North Korea better able to fight its neighbors.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has previously touted his army as the world’s strongest. Propaganda videos released by the regime in 2023 showed bare-chested soldiers running across snowy fields, jumping into frozen lakes and punching blocks of ice in winter training.

But a South Korean lawmaker briefed by the country’s spy agency said Monday that the number of North Korean soldiers wounded and killed on the battlefield showed they were unprepared for modern warfare, such as drone strikes, and could be used as “cannon fodder” by Russia.

He also revealed more alarming signs that these troops had been ordered to commit suicide.

“Recently, it was confirmed that a North Korean soldier was in danger of being captured by the Ukrainian military, so he shouted for General Kim Jong Un and took out a grenade to try to blow himself up, but was killed,” said Lee Seong-kweun, who sits on the South Korean parliament’s intelligence committee.

He also said memos carried by the slain North Korean soldiers also showed that North Korean authorities emphasized self-destruction and suicide before capture.

When asked for further details of the cases he cited, he declined to elaborate, saying it was information from Ukraine that was shared with South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS). The NIS did not return calls seeking comment on Tuesday.

Yang Uk, a defense analyst at the Asan Institute of Policy Studies, said suicide by soldiers or spies is not only a show of loyalty to the Kim Jong Un regime, but also a way to protect their families left behind at home.

Zelensky said Sunday that Kyiv was ready to hand over captured North Korean soldiers to leader Kim Jong Un if he could facilitate their exchange for Ukrainians held in Russia.

But for some North Korean soldiers, being captured and sent back to Pyongyang would be a fate worse than death.

"Being a prisoner of war means betrayal. Being captured means you are a traitor. Leave one last bullet, that's what we talk about in the military," said Kim, a former North Korean soldier.

Editor's Choice: Ukraine Ready to Exchange North Korean Soldiers for Ukrainians Held in Russia

Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News

Police Officer in North Sumatra Died by Hanging Himself in His Office

22 jam lalu

Ukraine Ready to Exchange North Korean Soldiers for Ukrainians Held in Russia

1 hari lalu

CSIS Researcher Predicts Indonesia Will Be Closer to China and Russia After Joining BRICS

2 hari lalu

Zelensky: Ukraine Captures Two North Korean Soldiers in Kursk

2 hari lalu

Here Are the Pros and Cons of Being a BRICS Member According to UPN Veteran Economist

6 hari lalu

Ukraine's Zelenskiy Says Nearly 15,000 Russians Have Been Killed in Kursk Region

7 hari lalu

North Korea Successfully Tests New Intermediate-Range Missile, State Media Says

8 hari lalu

North Korea Tests Mid-Range Missile as Blinken Visits Seoul

8 hari lalu

Russia Declares State of Emergency in Crimea After Black Sea Oil Spill

8 hari lalu

China Urges Safety Assessments After Deadly Year in Commercial Aviation

11 hari lalu