Zelensky shares additional video of captured North Korean soldier being questioned
Published: 15 Jan. 2025, 14:01
Updated: 15 Jan. 2025, 17:01
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- SEO JI-EUN
- [email protected]
![A captured North Korean soldier responds to questions from Ukrainian investigators with the help of a Korean interpreter while lying in bed in this video released by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on X on Jan. 14. [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/15/d1cd753c-449d-49f5-a3cf-8769270598d4.jpg)
A captured North Korean soldier responds to questions from Ukrainian investigators with the help of a Korean interpreter while lying in bed in this video released by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on X on Jan. 14. [SCREEN CAPTURE]
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday released a video showing additional questioning of a North Korean soldier recently captured by Ukrainian forces.
The video, shared on X (formerly Twitter), featured the 20-year-old rifleman calmly recounting his capture, the use of fake Russian documents and his military training.
"[Including myself,] everyone was injured, so we took shelter in a bunker," the soldier explained in Korean. "Later, we moved into the forest intending to retreat, but I injured my leg and couldn’t go any further.
"While I was there, Ukrainian soldiers arrived, took me with them, gave me an injection, and transported me by vehicle," he added. According to the subtitle of the video, the soldier had been on his own for three to five days before Ukrainian troops found him.
The soldier revealed that his identification documents lacked a photo and were written entirely in Russian to conceal his North Korean identity.
"I don't know the name; it was all written in Russian," he said, showing the challenges North Korean soldiers face as they are deployed to the battlefield without knowledge of Ukrainian or Russian.
The fabricated documents made him appear to be a 26-year-old from the Tuva Republic in southern Siberia at the time of his capture.
When questioned about instructions for handling civilians and surrendering soldiers, he described being taught to draw a house and a gun on a piece of paper and show it to individuals they encountered. A house symbolized a desire to return home, while a gun represented a willingness to continue fighting. Soldiers were instructed to release those who chose the house and capture or kill those who selected the gun.
However, neither he nor his unit had taken any Ukrainian soldiers as hostages or prisoners, he added.
![A wounded soldier, suspected to be North Korean and captured by Ukrainian forces, is seen in this photo posted on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's Telegram on Jan. 11. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/15/022981c6-228a-4d6c-96d0-8cdb217c4776.jpg)
A wounded soldier, suspected to be North Korean and captured by Ukrainian forces, is seen in this photo posted on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's Telegram on Jan. 11. [YONHAP]
During the video, the interpreter, believed to be a South Korean intelligence official, referred to the North Korean soldier as a "witness" and used respectful language.
Zelensky emphasized the importance of uncovering the truth behind Russia’s use of North Korean soldiers.
"Communication between captured North Korean soldiers and Ukrainian investigators continues. We are establishing the facts," he wrote in his post.
"The world will learn the full truth about how Russia is exploiting such guys, who grew up in a complete information vacuum, utterly unaware of Ukraine, and who are being used by Russia solely to prolong and escalate this war," he wrote. "Only Russia needs this war."
BY SEO JI-EUN [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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