North Korean Soldier Captured in Ukraine Requests "Play a Korean-Language Romance Movie"

Process of Capturing North Korean Soldier Revealed
Possessed Weapons and Food Including Grenades
"I Don't Understand Ukrainian"... Requests Korean Movie

A North Korean soldier captured by the Ukrainian military reportedly requested to have a love movie played in Korean.

On the 21st (local time), the U.S. Radio Free Asia (RFA) cited a video posted on a Telegram channel by paratroopers of Ukraine's 95th Air Assault Brigade, reporting the process of capturing the injured North Korean soldier who had collapsed. A paratrooper with the call sign 'Grandfather' said, "At first, I thought he was a Ukrainian soldier, but his appearance was different," adding, "He did not respond when spoken to in Russian, English, or Ukrainian." The soldier was reportedly carrying weapons such as grenades and knives, and had sausages as food.

The image of the North Korean soldier whom Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced was captured on the 11th. The face is mosaicized for personal safety. Zelenskyy Ex

The 95th Air Assault Brigade explained, "After being captured, the North Korean soldier received medical and food support from the Ukrainian military." They also stated, "He requested to have a movie with a love story played, and when told he did not understand Ukrainian, he asked for it to be changed to a Korean movie." RFA added, "Ukraine's special operations forces are conducting an identification process of the North Korean soldier."

Meanwhile, foreign media recently reported that North Korean soldiers are scarcely seen in Kursk, suggesting that "the North Korean troops may be reorganizing their ranks and reviewing future movements, or that there are significant casualties and extreme war fatigue." Kursk is a city in western Russia that Ukrainian forces advanced into and partially occupied in August last year, where both sides have been engaged in counteroffensive battles. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, about 12,000 North Korean soldiers have been deployed to Russia, with estimated casualties around 4,000 as of the 9th of this month.

President Zelensky additionally released an interrogation video of a North Korean prisoner of war on X (formerly Twitter) on the 20th. The soldier, one of two publicly revealed who were captured by Ukrainian forces in Kursk, responded to a question about whether he had been trained in the use of Russian weapons and military equipment by saying, "Some were selected and trained, but I was not." He also stated, "After boarding a ship in North Korea and arriving in Russia, I took a train and traveled by land," adding, "I did not even know we were going to Russia or that our enemy was the Ukrainian people."