A North Korean soldier captured by Special Operations Forces (SOF) in Kursk Oblast was serving in a reconnaissance battalion. He claims he had no idea who he would be fighting against.

Source : Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s video on social media 

Details: A recording posted on 20 January shows a North Korean soldier answering questions from Ukrainian intelligence officers via a translator.  

The prisoner revealed that he, along with around 100 fellow North Koreans, arrived in Russia by ship and were later transported by train.  

He noted that some of his compatriots received training to operate heavy Russian military equipment but claimed he did not undergo such training himself.  

The soldier explained that he joined the North Korean army at the age of 17 as a conscript. He claimed he had no idea he would be sent to fight in Russia or who the enemy would be.  

When asked about North Korean army losses, he said, "There were many casualties in the battles".

He also mentioned that his mother does not know his current whereabouts. When asked what he knew about the world outside North Korea, the soldier simply replied, "Very little".

Quote: "– Did you know anything about South Korea?  

– All I know is that South Korea has fewer mountains than North Korea."

Background:

• Ukrainian soldiers captured two North Korean military personnel in Kursk Oblast on 11 January. 
• Ukraine's SOF released a video showing their operatives capturing and transporting a North Korean soldier. Another captured North Korean soldier was shown in a video posted by Ukraine’s Air Assault Forces.
• Russian media outlet Agentstvo. News reported that a fake military ID discovered on a captured North Korean soldier in Kursk Oblast was issued in the name of a real person from the Russian republic of Tyva (Tuva).
• A North Korean soldier captured by Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces in Kursk Oblast confirmed that he had fake Russian documents.

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