Ukrainian troops have captured a wounded North Korean soldier who was sent to support the Russian military, South Korea's intelligence agency said on Friday.
The soldier is believed to be the first North Korean prisoner captured since December, when Pyongyang sent troops to support Russia's military operation in Ukraine.
This confirmation comes after a photo showing an injured soldier went viral on Telegram.
North Korea has sent more than 10,000 troops to help Russia, according to Kyiv and Seoul – although Moscow and Pyongyang have neither confirmed nor denied their presence.
“This is the first in a series of kidnappings and killings,” Yang Uk, a researcher at the Asian Institute for Policy Studies, told the BBC. “For the Ukrainians, it is very beneficial to capture these North Korean soldiers and try to exchange them with the Russians for Ukrainian prisoners of war.”
The latest images from the Russia-Ukraine conflict have confirmed speculation that “North Korean troops will be deployed en masse in the offensive at the behest of Russia,” Mr. Yang said.
He added however that “it will be a challenge to show their North Korean nationality”.
Ukraine's military says North Korean soldiers have been given fake Russian IDs, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this month that Russian soldiers were seen burning the faces of North Koreans who died in the war – allegedly to hide their identities.
More than 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded during the fighting in Russia's Kursk region, Zelenskyy said on Monday.
He added that cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang increases the “risk of deterioration” around the Korean peninsula.
Russia has launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The recent deployment of North Korean troops to Russia is a sign of the growing alliance between the two states.
The development, which comes as North Korea eases tensions with South Korea, has raised concerns in the West. China, an old ally of both sides, too keeping a watchful eye on friendship.
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