Recently, a hospital in the Kursk region of Russia admitted wounded soldiers sent to support from North Korea, revealing to medical staff that North Korea is indeed involved in the Russia-Ukraine war. Previously, Russian authorities had been covering up the news of North Korean assistance to Russia against Ukraine, leading locals to dismiss it as “fake news.”
According to a report from The Guardian on December 27th, last week, over twenty injured North Korean soldiers were sent to a major hospital in Kursk city. They were taken to a designated floor, guarded by police, with only translators and medical personnel allowed entry.
One medical staff member treating the North Korean soldiers said, “We were informed in the morning to prepare for a special kind of patients. We had heard that the North Koreans were fighting there, but I didn’t believe it. No one had really seen them before. I thought it was all fake news until they arrived.”
The medical staff member added that most of the North Korean soldiers were injured by shell fragments.
Another medical staff member mentioned that it was impossible to communicate with the North Korean soldiers without translators, noting that some of the soldiers appeared “afraid and nervous.”
Both medical staff members requested anonymity as they feared repercussions for discussing the topic.
The arrival of these North Korean wounded soldiers marks a rare moment of interaction between the residents of the Kursk region and the North Korean soldiers, whose presence remains shrouded in secrecy.
Kursk city is the administrative center of the Kursk region with a population of less than 500,000. North Korean soldiers were reportedly deployed to the region in early October, but went largely unnoticed by the public.
The Guardian interviewed over a dozen local residents in the area, and none of them were aware of the arrival of North Korean soldiers. This indicates that Russian authorities strictly limit the movements of the North Korean soldiers, isolating them in remote military camps away from civilian residential areas.
While their exact location and living conditions remain unknown to outsiders, their presence has become a topic of discussion among netizens, with locals asking each other if anyone has seen them on the streets.
Some local residents have also questioned the need for Russia to rely on North Korean soldiers. A resident of the Kursk region told The Guardian, “I think the North Koreans don’t exist. Our military is strong enough without them.”
In addition to hospitals in the Kursk region, some injured North Korean soldiers appear to have been sent to hospitals outside Moscow, bypassing smaller hospitals near the frontlines.
On December 18th, the Ukrainian Security Service released intercepted audio on YouTube. The agency claimed it was a conversation between a Russian soldier and his wife, who is a nurse at a hospital near Moscow.
In the unverified audio, the woman mentioned that about 200 North Korean wounded soldiers were sent for treatment.
Intelligence from South Korea indicates that most of the North Korean soldiers dispatched to Russia belong to the elite “Storm Corps.” They are described as having “high morale” but “lacking understanding of modern warfare.”
The BBC cited a former instructor of the “Storm Corps” who surrendered in 2014, stating that even in such a well-trained elite force, North Korean soldiers commonly suffer from hunger and malnutrition.
According to a report from the Ukrainian military website “Militarnyi” on December 26th, Ukrainian Special Operations Forces captured a North Korean soldier supporting the Russian military during a mission in the Kursk region.
The Special Operations Forces shared a photo of the captured North Korean soldier on the Telegram social media platform. The soldier appeared severely wounded, though the extent of the injuries was unclear. This may be the first North Korean soldier captured since the skirmishes between North Korean and Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region began. (Click here to see the photo of the soldier)
On December 27th, the South Korean news agency reported that the National Intelligence Service announced that a North Korean soldier, captured by Ukrainian forces, had died due to worsening injuries one day after being captured.
It is currently believed that tens of thousands of North Korean soldiers have been sent to participate in the Russia-Ukraine war. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy stated on December 23rd that over 3,000 of these soldiers from North Korea have been killed or injured. The South Korean military estimates that at least 1,100 North Korean soldiers supporting Russia have been casualties.