Two North Korean prisoners of war have spoken exclusively to The Chosun at a Ukrainian camp for prisoners-of-war, marking the first media interview with North Korean soldiers deployed to Russia. Mr. Ri (26), a reconnaissance sniper, and Mr. Baek (21), a rifleman, were captured on 9 January after being deployed to Kursk Oblast, Russia, in October and November 2024.
Both soldiers revealed they served in the Reconnaissance General Bureau, North Korea’s intelligence agency handling clandestine operations, rather than the elite Storm Corps as initially believed.
The captured soldiers revealed that North Korea’s Ministry of State Security maintained strict control over deployed troops. Ri stated that each battalion of approximately 500 soldiers had one or two security officers who “monitored both our duties and our ideology.”
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Despite South Korea neither deploying troops to Ukraine nor supplying weapons to Kyiv, Pyongyang’s propaganda convinced its soldiers in Russia that they were fighting against South Korean forces:
“They [the North Korean security agents] told us that all Ukrainian military drone operators were actually South Korean soldiers,” Ri said.
Ri said he was informed he was “going abroad for training” when he left on 10 October last year, approximately 2,500 North Korean soldiers were deployed with him. They traveled to Kursk via train, plane, and bus, arriving in mid-December after training in Vladivostok on Russia’s Pacific coast. He stated they only learned they would be participating in combat after arriving in Kursk Oblast.
Combat experiences
On 5 January, Ri and his unit entered combat, and “the first wave of troops suffered heavy losses due to drone strikes and artillery fire.“
“We relied on Russian artillery support, but they fired behind enemy lines instead of covering us properly. That led to unnecessary casualties,” he said.
He revealed devastating losses among North Korean forces, saying, “Almost everyone I came with has been killed. All the men who came with me are gone. In my unit, all my comrades have died.”
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Ri explained that in his company of 63-65 soldiers, all seven other members of his class were killed, leaving him as the sole survivor. Some of his comrades blew themselves up to avoid capture.
The captured sniper described being severely wounded during an ambush. “A bullet went through my arm, breaking the bone, and then hit my jaw, shattering it. I lost consciousness from blood loss,” he said. Despite receiving emergency treatment from fellow North Korean soldiers, he was separated during a Ukrainian counterattack involving armored vehicles and drones, which killed the soldiers helping him.
Drone warfare
Both prisoners highlighted the devastating impact of Ukrainian drones on North Korean forces.
“We underestimated unmanned aircraft. Drones were the most devastating. So many were lost because of them,” Ri stated.
He described what North Korean soldiers called “demonic drones” – Ukrainian night bombers. Ri described such unmanned vehicles as “a very large drone that carries bombs. It has an infrared sensor, which allows it to fly around at night, searching for targets and dropping bombs“.
The POW admitted they received only basic drone training with no specific counter-drone strategy, explaining their training emphasized “running, hiding, or shooting drones from the ground.”
Related:
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- North Korea gains combat experience, improves weapons through Russian war, Ukrainian intel says
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- North Korea sends thousands of workers to Russia in 2024
- Ukraine repels 16-hour Russian-North Korean infantry assault in Kursk Oblast (video)
- North Korean soldier reportedly attempts suicide while surrendering to Ukrainian forces in Kursk Oblast
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