SEOUL, Dec 27, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - South Korea's spy agency said Friday it had
confirmed that a North Korean soldier sent to back Russia's war against
Ukraine had been captured by Ukrainian forces.

Pyongyang has deployed thousands of troops to reinforce Russian troops,
including in the Kursk border region where Ukraine mounted a shock border
incursion in August.

"Through real-time information sharing with an allied country's intelligence
agency, it has been confirmed that one injured North Korean soldier has been
captured," South Korea's National Intelligence Service said in a statement.

The soldier was captured by the Ukrainian army, an intelligence source told
AFP, adding that the location where he was seized was unknown.

The first confirmation of the capture of a North Korean soldier came days
after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that nearly 3,000
North Korean soldiers had been "killed or wounded" so far.

Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) also said Monday that more than 1,000
North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded.

The JCS had also said that Pyongyang is reportedly "preparing for the
rotation or additional deployment of soldiers" and supplying "240mm rocket
launchers and 170mm self-propelled artillery" to the Russian army.

Seoul's military believes that North Korea was seeking to modernise its
conventional warfare capabilities through combat experience gained in the
Russia-Ukraine war.

North Korean state media said Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin
sent a New Year's message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying "the
bilateral ties between our two countries have been elevated after our talks
in June in Pyongyang".

A landmark defence pact went into effect in December after the two sides
exchanged ratification documents.

Putin hailed the deal in June as a "breakthrough document".