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What Kyiv said about captured North Korean soldiers
Summary
A look back at the announcement of two North Korean prisoners taken in Kursk Oblast, and what surrounded it.
What did Ukraine reveal about North Korea's role in the war in mid-January 2025? On 15 January 2025, the announcement made four days earlier, on 11 January, was still the central development: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had said Ukraine captured two North Korean soldiers in Kursk Oblast, Russia.
The two men were reported to be in healthy condition. It was the first time Ukraine had taken North Korean soldiers alive since North Korea entered the war. Two earlier North Korean prisoners of war had died of their injuries shortly after being captured, which made the new captures notable.
Longer-running ties
North Korea's backing for Russia did not begin with the Kursk fighting. Its support dates to 2017, when it recognised Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea. In July 2022, it recognised the Russia-backed, self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. Ukraine responded by severing diplomatic ties with Pyongyang.
The captures in Kursk Oblast placed North Korean personnel on the battlefield and, now, in Ukrainian custody.
