Published January 12,2025
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South Korea‘s intelligence service on Sunday backed up Ukraine’s account of getting captured two wounded North Korean troopers in Russia, after Kyiv mentioned they had been being questioned.
Ukraine, the United States and South Korea have accused nuclear-armed North Korea of sending greater than 10,000 troopers to assist bolster Russian forces.
Seoul’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) informed AFP it has “confirmed that the Ukrainian military captured two North Korean soldiers on January 9 in the Kursk battlefield in Russia”.
On Saturday, Ukrainian intelligence (SBU) launched a video exhibiting the 2 males in hospital bunks, one with bandaged palms and the opposite with a bandaged jaw.
A physician on the detention centre mentioned the primary man additionally had a damaged leg.
The SBU mentioned the lads had informed interrogators they had been skilled military troopers, and one mentioned he was despatched to Russia for coaching, not combating.
But Kyiv didn’t current direct proof that the captured males had been North Korean and AFP was unable to independently confirm their nationalities.
South Korea’s affirmation added weight to Kyiv’s account.
The NIS equally mentioned one of many captured troopers revealed throughout his interrogation that he acquired navy coaching from Russian forces after arriving there in November.
“He initially believed he was being sent for training, realising upon arrival in Russia that he had been deployed,” the NIS mentioned.
The soldier mentioned North Korean forces had skilled “significant losses during battle”.
According to Seoul’s intelligence company, one of many males “went without food or water for four to five days before being captured”.
The NIS mentioned it might proceed to work with the SBU to share info on North Korean fighters in Ukraine.
Neither Russia nor North Korea has reacted to the intelligence accounts.
– CLOSER COOPERATION –
Russia and North Korea have boosted their navy ties since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, although neither has confirmed that Pyongyang’s forces are combating for Moscow.
On a go to to Seoul this month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentioned Washington believed Russia was increasing area cooperation with North Korea in alternate for its troop contribution in combating Ukraine.
“The DPRK is already receiving Russian military equipment and training. Now we have reason to believe that Moscow intends to share advanced space and satellite technology with Pyongyang,” Blinken informed a news convention in Seoul, utilizing the North’s official identify.
Repeating an assertion not too long ago made by the US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Blinken mentioned the US additionally believed that Russia “may be close” to formally accepting North Korea’s standing as a nuclear energy.
The assertion got here as North Korea test-fired a brand new hypersonic missile whereas Blinken was visiting the US ally.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned final month that almost 3,000 North Korean troopers had been “killed or wounded” combating for Russia, whereas Seoul put the determine at 1,000.
The NIS informed the nation’s lawmakers final month that “several North Korean casualties” had already been attributed to Ukrainian missile and drone assaults in addition to coaching accidents, with the best rating “at least at the level of a general”.
Due to losses amongst its forces, North Korea is making ready for added deployment to Ukraine, based on Seoul’s navy.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff mentioned final month that Pyongyang is reportedly “preparing for the rotation or additional deployment of soldiers” to assist Russia’s warfare effort.
Pyongyang and Moscow have deepened political, navy and cultural ties since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In a New Year’s letter, North Korean chief Kim Jong Un hailed Russian President Vladimir Putin and made a doable reference to the warfare in Ukraine.
He mentioned 2025 could be the 12 months “when the Russian army and people defeat neo-Nazism and achieve a great victory”.
Source: www.anews.com.tr