Troops detained in Ukraine provide rare insight into North Korean military

A young North Korean soldier said he did not know where he was fighting when he was sent from his isolated country to the front lines of Russia’s war with Ukraine. Asked if his parents knew where he was, another North Korean soldier shook his head.

The three-minute video clip posted Sunday by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on social media platform X shows a Ukrainian official questioning two North Korean prisoners of war with the help of a Korean interpreter. Ukrainian authorities announced their capture on Saturday, saying they were the first North Korean soldiers captured alive. Mr. Zelensky then offered to exchange them for Ukrainian prisoners of war held in Russia.

The soldiers’ responses were provided by footage provided and edited by Ukraine, which controlled the production and distribution of the video. It offers a tiny, but rare, glimpse into the mindset and preparedness of about 11,000 North Korean troops deployed to aid Russia’s war against Ukraine.

They appear to confirm what South Korean and U.S. officials have said in recent weeks: North Korean troops were suffering heavy losses in a foreign war fought in unfamiliar territory while their government kept their deployment secret from its people.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told lawmakers in Seoul on Monday that it estimates 300 North Korean troops have been killed and another 2,700 wounded in the fighting against Ukraine. The White House has further increased the toll.

Memos found with dead North Korean soldiers indicated their government urged the highly indoctrinated troops to end their lives rather than be captured on the battlefield, according to South Korean lawmakers who briefed reporters after a closed-door meeting with the intelligence agency. , echoing a claim made by Mr. Zelensky. A North Korean soldier was attempting to blow himself up with a grenade while shouting the name of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un when he was shot dead by Ukrainian troops, they said.