The first North Korean soldier to be captured by Ukrainian troops has since died in custody, according to South Korean intelligence officials.
The unidentified soldier, one of thousands deployed to fight for Russia, was already wounded when he was captured Thursday by Ukrainian forces, according to South Korea’s spy agency, the National Intelligence Service.
He died Friday “as (his) wounds worsened,” the spy agency said, citing intelligence from a “friendly country,” according to according to the South Korean news outlet Yonhap.
Photos of the dirty, gaunt-looking North Korean soldier in fatigues while he was still alive reportedly circulated on Telegram.
It’s not clear what his injuries were.
The North Korean fighter was reportedly captured on Dec. 26 by Ukrainian special operations troops in the Kursk region, where Russia has launched a heavy offensive, according to the Ukrainian news site Militarnyi.
Pyongyang has sent some 11,000 soldiers to fight alongside Russia invaders two months ago — and more soldiers and military equipment might be on the way to the front lines, South Korean officials said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week that there have been more than 3,000 North Korean casualties in the Kursk region.
He warned that “there are risks of North Korea sending additional troops and military equipment to the Russian army,”
South Korea’s military also revealed it’s seeing signs North Korea is preparing more soldiers, weapons and suicide drones for export.
Zelenksy previously claimed that Russian soldiers burned the faces off dead North Koreans to hide their identity.
The inexperienced North Korean troops have become “burdens” to their Russian allies because they know nothing about drones, South Korean politician Lee Seong-kweun told reporters after an intelligence briefing last week.
The Russians and North Koreans have also struggled to overcome the language barrier, which led to a friendly fire incident.
The deployment of North Korean troops marks a dramatic escalation in the conflict as President Vladimir Putin desperately looks to turn the tide in his drawn-out invasion of Ukraine.
