Last Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on the social network X photos of two servicemen of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) captured in battle by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This case became historic, as North Korean servicemen have not been taken prisoner in battle since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
Interrogation videos have also surfaced online, in which prisoners admit that they do not know what country they are in. When asked if they want to return home, one nods “yes,” while the other says, “I want to live in Ukraine.”.
As Sokil Park, director of Freedom in North Korea, notes, these two people, caught in circumstances immeasurably different from those they have known their entire lives, will be frightened, confused, and faced with an “impossible” choice.
“Leaving North Korea is very difficult. Not necessarily because of the indoctrination, but because it’s your home. Your family is here, and for most people that’s a huge factor,” he says. “There’s also the fear that if you decide not to go home, what will happen to your family members?”.
Daniel Tudor, co-author of North Korea Confidential, says the consequences for would-be traitors can be severe. “They will be thinking, ‘I can live in Europe and have a better life, but on the other hand, what will happen to my mum and dad?’ The regime could send your family to forced labour camps, possibly for a very long time.”.
Sokil added that the soldiers were likely unaware of their rights as prisoners of war and may have made their statements believing that any incorrect answer could lead to torture or death.
According to Sokil, the refugees he has worked with describe starting a new life seeking asylum in another country as stepping out of a time machine for North Korean defectors.
“It’s like someone from Victorian England came to modern England. While the fundamentals of human society are very similar, it’s clear that there’s a different level of technology involved. They might be surprised by basic things like having hot water or a toilet in their home,” he says.
Shortly after North Koreans were sent to fight in Ukraine, there were reports that soldiers who had never had free access to the Internet before were hooked on online pornography. While Sokol is skeptical of these unverified claims, he says that for defectors, “the expanses of the Internet can be overwhelming at first.”.
It is believed that in exchange for supplying troops, Kim Jong-un receives access to Moscow's advanced military technology, as well as food, resources, and useful experience in warfare.
“The blood of ordinary soldiers is always useful because it’s so important to have real combat experience,” says Professor Mark Galeotti, a senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a think tank. “It gives them, and more importantly their officers, an opportunity to see what modern 21st century warfare looks like and learn from it.”.
North Korean soldiers in Ukraine – latest news
As a reminder, the chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, called the DPRK's military participation in the war in Ukraine a "strategic mistake", noting the "ineffectiveness" of the use of DPRK soldiers by the Russian army.
Analysts from the American Institute for the Study of War have estimated that at the current rate of losses, the 12,000-strong contingent of North Korean troops in the Kursk region will be destroyed in the next three months.
