Two North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia were captured in Kursk region

[WestCoast]

CNN is reporting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said forces operating in the Kursk region of Russia have captured two North Korean soldiers, marking the first time that Kiev has captured alive soldiers from the isolated state.

If true this ends the idea that NK soldiers fighting for Russia is some sort of red flag event or a conspiracy theory.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/11/europe/zelensky-north-korean-soldiers-korea-intl/index.html

[Manny]

From the BBC:

Zelensky also shared a photo of a red Russian military ID card that gives the place of birth as Turan, in the Russian republic of Tuva, which shares a border with Mongolia.

Many people from there look pretty similar to Koreans.

Oddly for the BBC, a state-funded channel that loves a bit of propaganda, they did insert this disclaimer in their article:

BBC News and other international media have not yet verified Ukraine's account of the prisoners and their capture.

In other words, its totally unverified and there is no proof at all, and we are left with this:

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said

And not much he says can be trusted. So it's all conjecture, really.

However, if true, they were inside Russia anyway, so it does beg the question, "So what?".

[WestCoast]

From the BBC:

Zelensky also shared a photo of a red Russian military ID card that gives the place of birth as Turan, in the Russian republic of Tuva, which shares a border with Mongolia.

Many people from there look pretty similar to Koreans.

Oddly for the BBC, a state-funded channel that loves a bit of propaganda, they did insert this disclaimer in their article:

BBC News and other international media have not yet verified Ukraine's account of the prisoners and their capture.

In other words, its totally unverified and there is no proof at all, and we are left with this:

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said

And not much he says can be trusted. So it's all conjecture, really.

However, if true, they were inside Russia anyway, so it does beg esethe question, "So what?".

I doubt the intelligence services in Ukraine have the capability to verify the IDs of the reported NK soldiers beyond doubt. Ukraine will have to call in the Americans, Brits or maybe the French or Germans to verify the soldiers are from NK.

If there are 10,000 or 12,000 NK soldiers fighting for Russia eventually Ukraine will capture some alive and willing to talk. This is even more likely if Kim sends tens of thousands more soldiers to fight for Russia.

While it's true there are probably hundreds of thousands of ethnic Koreans living in parts of Russia and former USSR countriestoday I doubt these ethnic Koreans are able to speak the NK dialect that is spoken in NK today.

https://tinyurl.com/4rrcv9pe

Edit by Manny to fix link length.

[Contrarian]

Not sure why Ukraine thinks this is news, or if they do. There are reports, likely accurate, that about 20K mercenaries from all over the World have been fighting for Ukraine. Many have now left this earth.

Hopefully soon this foolish war will be over and Peace will come over the region. The main way for that to happen will be if Ukrainians themselves demand Westerners leave. 

[WestCoast]

Not sure why Ukraine thinks this is news, or if they do. There are reports, likely accurate, that about 20K mercenaries from all over the World have been fighting for Ukraine. Many have now left this earth.

Hopefully soon this foolish war will be over and Peace will come over the region. The main way for that to happen will be if Ukrainians themselves demand Westerners leave. 

Russia has probably used far more mercenaries. Russia can afford to pay more, has better recruiters that can reach more volunteers around the world and has more diplomatic outposts in more countries to draw recruits from.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/19/russia-deployed-20000-mercenaries-ukraine-donbas-region

[rosco]

Intentionally or not, too many people talk about NK's fighting Ukraine whilst failing to mention the specifics. From what I've read and understood, they've not set one foot in Ukraine or the liberated regions.

NK soldiers are in Russia and have seen action against invading Ukrainians and foreign mercenaries fighting under their flag, in Kursk Russia.

Given the scale of western support for Ukraine in all areas, it's more than a tad hypocritical to get upset about a few thousand NK soldiers being on Russian soil.

[andrewfi]

I doubt the intelligence services in Ukraine have the capability to verify the IDs of the reported NK soldiers beyond doubt. Ukraine will have to call in the Americans, Brits or maybe the French or Germans to verify the soldiers are from NK...


...While it's true there are probably hundreds of thousands of ethnic Koreans living in parts of Russia and former USSR countriestoday I doubt these ethnic Koreans are able to speak the NK dialect that is spoken in NK today.

Sorry, I can't share a link. I do not remember where I saw the following: I saw a report, with video, from Ukraine with these two guys. From the commentary, it appeared that, yes, there was an issue with the dialect of Korean being used.

Specifically, the first captive did not seem to recognise the North Korean word for something like 'homeland'. The South Korean version was, however, recognised. The second captive was interviewed later and did appear to recognise the word. The commentator suggested that as the two are hospitalised together, the two had communicated and the first had told the second what had occurred. The suggested basis for having done so was a, not unreasonable, desire on the part of the captives to not displease their captors, leading to a desire to tell them what they thought the captors wanted to hear.

The South Korean intelligence services have a team working with Ukrainian intelligence in Ukraine. I expect that those guys have a decent handle on the language issues.

Remember that hitherto, the Ukrainians have been making false claims, including Photoshopped versions of old images and doctored video footage, along with making claims that are at face value somewhat ridiculous, not to mention impractical.

I have an open mind on the specific issue of these two guys but tend toward the sceptical, given the quality of Ukrainian propaganda and the poor quality 'evidence' used to back up the claims previously made.