North Korean Soldier Captured in Ukraine Last Year 'Attempted Suicide' When Taken Prisoner

[Financial News] A North Korean prisoner of war captured in the war in Ukraine last January reportedly attempted suicide after refusing to surrender.
NK News, a U.S. media outlet specializing in North Korea, reported on the 22nd local time, citing a new documentary released by the Ukrainian military late last month. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who ordered an attack on Russia's Kursk region in August 2024, announced last January that Ukraine had captured two North Korean soldiers, including one prisoner whose face was bandaged over what appeared to be a jaw injury. North Korea began sending troops to Russia in October 2024, and they were deployed into combat against Ukrainian forces alongside Russian troops from late that year.
At the time, Ukrainian authorities did not disclose the exact cause of the injury suffered by the North Korean sniper born in 1999, who was wearing bandages. Ihor Maksymyshyn, an anesthesiologist with Ukraine's 95th Independent Air Assault Brigade, said in the newly released video that the injury resulted from an attempted suicide.
He said, "He suffered a very serious facial injury. His face was badly crushed, his lower jaw was broken, and the upper part of one arm was also injured." He continued, "The facial trauma that caused massive bleeding, the most serious injury, was self-inflicted." Maksymyshyn claimed, "He attempted suicide because he did not want to surrender."
Maksymyshyn said that medical staff promptly provided the necessary treatment so the injured prisoner could provide valuable information and relevant authorities could cooperate with him. He said the prisoner's capture became evidence of "North Korea's involvement on the side of the enemy (Russia)."
He recalled that treating the North Korean prisoner during the Kursk operation in western Russia was an unusual experience, saying, "At the time, everyone had heard of North Korean soldiers, but no one had ever actually seen one in person."
NK News reported that North Korea has sent more than 16,000 troops to Russia so far, while the cumulative number of troops deployed through rotations is approximately 25,000.
The Ukrainian military has yet to determine what will happen to the two captured North Korean prisoners of war. Article 118 of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War stipulates that prisoners of war must be repatriated after the end of hostilities, but international humanitarian law may restrict forced repatriation to a country where they face persecution. The two North Korean prisoners of war have expressed their desire to go to South Korea in interviews with South Korean media and letters sent to North Korean defector organizations.
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