Ukraine Captures First North Korean Soldier

Ukrainian troops have taken their first North Korean soldier as prisoner, according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap News. The soldier, who sustained unspecified injuries, was captured by Ukrainian troops in Kursk.

Newsweek reached out to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for comment via email.

Newsweek also reached out to the North Korean embassy in the U.K. for comment via email outside of business hours.

Why It Matters

The capture of the first North Korean soldier in Kursk is significant because it shows that Democratic People's Republic of Korean troops (DPRK) may not be prepared to continue fighting Ukrainian soldiers. As North Korean troops have not engaged in combat since 1953 and casualty numbers have recently risen, they may not be able to sustain Russia's war with Ukraine.

What To Know

The North Korean soldier was captured by the Special Operations Forces (SOF) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and they reportedly "conducted an operation to destroy the enemy in the Kursk sector" where they also captured trophies including "an APC equipped with anti-HEAT protection," according to the Ukrainian news outlet Militarnyi. The SOF also seized a Russian BTR-82 armored personnel carrier, weapons, and documents.

Photos posted on Telegram by the group Tiskoarhyvy, cited by Militarnyi, purport to show the captured North Korean soldier and the other items Ukrainian troops seized in Kursk, although Newsweek cannot independently verify these photos.

The DPRK soldier is one of up to 11,000 troops deployed to Kursk to fight alongside Russian forces, and they have been engaging in combat with Ukrainian troops since earlier this month. North Korean soldiers seized their first village in Kursk, Plekhovo, on behalf of Russia between December 6 and 7.

In fighting with Ukrainian troops, North Korean soldiers have sustained increasingly high numbers of casualties, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently estimated that they have lost 3,000 soldiers in Kursk, and he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: "There are risks of North Korea sending additional troops and military equipment to the Russian army, and we will have tangible responses to this."

South Korea's military has also predicted that North Korea will deploy additional soldiers to Kursk after sustaining so many casualties, and that they may send suicidal drones to Russia to further aid the war effort.

North Korean soldiers marching in a parade in Pyongyang in 2015. A North Korean soldier has recently been captured by Ukrainian troops for the first time in Kursk. Wong Maye-E/Associated Press

What People Are Saying

South Korea's National Intelligence Service said: "Through real-time information sharing with a friendly nation's intelligence organization, (we) confirmed the capture of a wounded North Korean soldier and plans to thoroughly examine the subsequent development."

After seizing the diary of a North Korean soldier killed in Kursk, the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine wrote on X: "Diary of KIA North Korean soldier in Kursk Oblast. Part 2 'Live bait' Ukrainian SOF operators eliminated a North Korean soldier in Russia's Kursk region, discovering his diary. The entries reveal that North Korea sent elite troops to support Russia, not ordinary soldiers."

What Happens Next

It remains to be seen whether Ukrainian troops can capture more North Korean soldiers or other Russian valuables to gain leverage in the war with Moscow.