“HERIOIC”
It has been reported that North Korean authorities instructed troops to commit suicide rather than allow themselves to be captured while fighting for Russia.
One of the two held by Ukraine told South Korean broadcaster MBC earlier this year: “If I am not brought to South Korea, I will end up dying.”
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un praised North Korean troops killed in Ukraine in April for taking part in “death-defying hand-to-hand fights and heroic suicidal explosions … without hesitation”, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
Kyiv had assured Seoul the two soldiers would not be repatriated to North Korea against their will, Cho said in March.
Analysts say North Korea has received financial assistance, military technology, food and energy from Russia in exchange for missiles, munitions and thousands of troops for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
The two countries had signed a mutual defence treaty in 2024, obliging each to provide military assistance “without delay” if either comes under attack.
More than 7,000 North Korean troops were killed or wounded while fighting alongside Russian forces in the Kursk region during the 2024-2025 campaign, the Kyiv Independent quoted Ukraine’s military intelligence agency as saying this week.
Sybiga said he and Cho also discussed “shared challenges stemming from the deepening cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang”.