The agency told lawmakers on Monday that Pyongyang has directed its troops to commit suicide rather than be taken prisoner.
NIS officials briefed the parliamentary intelligence committee on what they called “massive casualties” among North Korean units deployed alongside Russian forces, partly caused by “misguided” attempts to shoot down Ukraine’s long-range drones.
“The high losses stem from a lack of understanding of modern warfare,” the agency said, adding that these North Korean soldiers are reportedly from the country’s elite Storm Corps.
Suicide directives
Representative Li Song Kwun, who attended the committee session, said troops had been ordered “to blow themselves up or otherwise kill themselves rather than surrender.” He noted the discovery of notes on the bodies of some North Korean soldiers, indicating that Pyongyang pressured them to commit suicide using explosives if capture was imminent.
Li added that one North Korean soldier, apparently about to be taken prisoner, shouted “General Kim Jong Un” before attempting to detonate a grenade, but was ultimately killed.
POWs in Ukrainian hands
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced the capture of two North Korean soldiers during fighting in the Kursk region. According to the NIS, the prisoners were part of the General Reconnaissance Bureau, a key North Korean military intelligence agency.
“The prisoner showed no intention of coming to South Korea,” Li said.
Zelenskiy indicated Ukraine would consider exchanging the captured soldiers, offering “other options” for those unwilling to return to Russia. He also suggested they could remain abroad to “spread the truth about this war.”
Seoul previously claimed North Korea dispatched more than 10,000 soldiers as “cannon fodder” for Moscow’s war against Kyiv. In return, Pyongyang reportedly expects Russian technical assistance for its sanctioned weapons and satellite programs. The regimes in Moscow and Pyongyang have not commented publicly on the allegations.
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Source: PAP