What the secret documents found next to the body of a North Korean killed in Ukraine reveal

Suicidal charges: ‘Advance or die’

Although the Kremlin has tried to maintain secrecy around its North Korean colleagues, the truth is that we are slowly learning more details. In fact, the Ukrainian president declared that Russians burn the faces of dead North Korean soldiers to erase their presence in the area. While the North Korean military has received the slogan of committing suicide rather than being captured. “Due to their mentality and indoctrination, they simply they lack the concept of surrender“Colonel Oleksandr Kindratenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces, told the media.

Soldiers are also being used as “human mine detectors”Lieutenant Colonel ‘Leopard’ of the 33rd ‘Big Cats’ Battalion of Ukraine told the ‘Times’. The lives of these foreign soldiers are worth little to their Russian superiors who send them to almost certain death, Washington officials confirm. “Where Ukrainians use a mine clearance vehicle, they only use people,” he states.

While “they walk in single file, three or four meters away from each other. If a mine explodes, doctors go after it to collect the dead. And the crowd continues to advance. “That’s how they get through minefields.” They are “suicidal charges,” Leopard indicated. And videos from the battle zones show how the North Koreans They move across a snow-covered open field with clothing clearly visible.

What is striking for the Ukrainian witnesses is that they do not try to seek shelter, which is “like a dream for our mortars and machine guns,” Ukrainian veteran Vitaliy told the ‘Times’. They also do not receive artillery support, showing a lack of coordination with Russian forces. If they don’t die they are finished off by their companions so as not to be captured alive. And he points out that, like the Wagner group, they seem to follow a simple order: “Advance or die.”

Also, recently, on his X profile, Zelensky has published a video in which two North Korean soldiers appearone of them with bandages on a cot, and both are interrogated through an interpreter. And while one shows his desire to stay in Ukraine, the other confesses that he wants to return to his country because his family does not know where he is. The two soldiers belong to the General Northern Reconnaissance squadron. And they were captured carrying one of them a Russian military identity card issued in the name of another person.

What does the soldier’s diary say?

In the diary entries you can see a diagram showing a soldier referred to as “bait” which must attract the drone and remain motionless so that a couple of hidden comrades can target it and try to neutralize it. «The bait must keep uat a distance of 7 meters from the drone. The other two must prepare to shoot down the unmanned aerial vehicle from a distance of 10 to 12 meters. When the bait stops, the drone will stop and can be shot down,” the soldier wrote in his drawing.

Leopard explained to the ‘Wall Street Journal’ that North Koreans only use small arms, machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars«at most; that is the extent of their technology. They don’t use drones yet, they are reserved for the Russians. But I suspect they are starting to learn it,” he added.

However, on another page you can read something more personal: «I long for my homeland, after having left the warm embrace of my dear father and mother, here on Russian land. I celebrate the birthday of my closest comrade, Song Ji Myong.” And he does not forget to make clear his devotion to his greatest leader, «Even at the cost of my life, I will carry out the orders of the Supreme Commander without hesitation“, and “I will show the world the bravery and sacrifice of Kim Jong Un’s special forces.”

«The content of the diary is typical of a brainwashed North Korean soldier» Bang Jong-kwan, a former major general in the South Korean army, told the WSJ. And in another entry he reproduces the speech that Kim gave to the battalion commanders in November, which they must memorize. He says that He grew up with the “benevolent embrace” of the country’s ruling Workers’ Party and that his mission is to protect Kim. And it also indicates that you need to atone for sinsbut does not go into details.

All of these notes for Ryu Seong-hyeon, a former North Korean soldier who defected in 2019 who spoke to American media, are likely motivated by North Korean military tradition that celebrates the story of a young hero of the 1950-53 Korean War. ««The letters that express their loyalty to the regime They are an attempt to leave a legacy that “Allows you to be glorified in case you die in battle”, said.

His calligraphy and choice of words have been key for experts to confirm its veracity. For example, Ryu Seong-hyeon notes that the newspaper’s Korean handwriting is “distinctly North Korean,” even the spelling is different from that used in South Korea. When describing the drone attack, the newspaper used the word “so-myol” as a translation of “destroy.” In South Korea, “so-myol” describes the extinction of an animal species.

A burden or a promise with potential?

Ukrainian officials speak of North Korean soldiers as a liability because of their outdated techniques and inexperience that make them easy targets. But they also remember that this may change as they spend more time involved in the war. Meanwhile, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby explained that “these North Korean soldiers appear to be highly indoctrinated, pushing attacks even when it’s clear those attacks are useless». But, above all, for the Ukrainian soldiers, who spoke with ‘The New York Times’, North Korean troops fighting far from home are “a disciplined, dedicated and brave force”

Likewise, the South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) has warned that it has detected signs that a new North Korean special operations force was being prepared to send westward. The NIS predicted “that Russia could offer reciprocal benefits” for a new deployment, Kim Jong-um would sell his soldiers in exchange for the modernization of North Korea’s conventional weapons.