A group of North Korean defectors handed Ukrainian officials propaganda leaflets urging Pyongyang’s fighters to abandon the fight against Ukrainian troops in Russia, according to a new report.
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The collection of former North Korean residents delivered the material, which includes written instructions and audio messages for North Korean fighters on how to defect, to Ukraine’s embassy in Seoul, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.
Jang Se-yul, heading up the group, said Kyiv’s military “could secure mass surrender and defection among North Korean soldiers if proactive psychological warfare is mobilized,” according to the news agency.
U.S., South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence have said upwards of 10,000 North Korean troops were deployed in Russia’s Kursk region, where Moscow has struggled to fend off a surprise Ukrainian cross-border offensive since early August. Earlier this month, Ukraine’s defense minister, Rustem Umerov, said up to 15,000 troops could end up supporting Russian forces in Kursk.
Pyongyang and Moscow have drawn closer since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, providing significant munitions and missiles for the Kremlin’s war effort.
The two countries signed a mutual defense pact in June, and was ratified by Pyongyang on Tuesday, according to North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency. North Korea is thought to be receiving help from Russia with economic aid, as well as supplies like food and help with building up its weapons arsenal as it forges ahead with its nuclear development programs.
There had been “small-scale clashes” so far between Ukrainian and North Korean troops, Umerov said in an interview with South Korean media published earlier this month, but that Ukraine could not yet verify how many casualties North Korea had sustained or how many soldiers had become prisoners of war.
An unnamed Ukrainian official told The New York Times on November 5 that the engagements involving North Korean troops were limited, probably intended to test Ukraine’s lines for weak points. Pyongyang’s troops joined Russia’s 810th Separate Naval Infantry Brigade, the official said.
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