"I'm sorry, but the road to a new start"...Did North Korea send a criminal-turned-soldier?

[Anchor]
There has been circumstantial evidence that North Korea may have dispatched former criminals to the Kursk front in Russia.

The Ukrainian military released the diary of a dead North Korean soldier, saying that he committed an unforgivable sin, but his country gave him a new opportunity.

Reporter Hong Joo-ye reports.

[Reporter]
a note written on a piece of paper with a blue ballpoint pen

This is the third record released by the Ukrainian military, saying it was carried by a North Korean soldier killed in Kursk.

It says that he committed ungrateful acts and was an unforgivable sin, but his country opened the way for a fresh start.

After vowing to be at the forefront of the operation, saying that all that's left is to repay,
The article ends with the sentence that if you win the Battle of
and return to your country, you will petition the party.

It can be interpreted that North Korea's soldiers dispatched to Russia include former criminals.

There is also a possibility that the soldiers were expected to receive amnesty or commutation.

But Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has accused Russian forces of being driven to the battlefield with minimal protections provided to the North.

[Volodymyr Zelensky / Ukrainian President: Neither Russian nor North Korean supervisors have any interest in ensuring the survival of North Korean soldiers. All sorts of measures are being taken to prevent us from being captured.

Earlier in the war in Ukraine, Russia also selected its prisoners as mercenaries and put them on the front line.

I'm Hong Joo Ye of YTN.



Video editing: Eunji Kang