North Korean soldiers commit suicide to avoid capture – White House

The United States has said that North Korean soldiers fighting against Ukraine on the side of Russia in Kursk Oblast are committing suicide to avoid being captured by the Ukrainian defence forces.

Source: White House representative John Kirby at a briefing on Friday, 27 December, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Kirby said that Russian and North Korean leaders view the North Koreans as expendable and give them orders to conduct "hopeless assaults against Ukrainian defences".

He noted that these soldiers seem to have been indoctrinated and insist on attacking even when it is clear that this would be unsuccessful.

"We also have reports of North Korean soldiers taking their own lives rather than surrendering to Ukrainian forces, likely out of fear of reprisal against their families in North Korea in the event that they’re captured," Kirby said. 

Kirby added that regardless of all the things the Russian military is giving these troops – their rifles, ammunition, artillery, backpacks, etc. – he hopes they are giving these commanders a lot of body bags because "they're clearly going to need it".

Background:

• During this briefing, it also became known that in the last week alone, North Korean troops have lost a thousand killed and wounded in Kursk Oblast.
• It should be noted that on Friday, 27 December, South Korean intelligence confirmed the capture by the Ukrainian military of a wounded North Korean soldier who had fought on the side of Russia.
• Later, South Korean intelligence officers, citing data from a "friendly country", reported that he had died.
• The Pentagon had previously predicted an increase in casualties among the North Korean military, which continues to take part in the fighting in Kursk Oblast.
• Nonetheless, US intelligence services believe that the deployment of North Korean troops in Russia was North Korea's idea, not Russia's.

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