Diary of a dead North Korean soldier reveals grisly battlefield tactics
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The crude stick-figure diagram, sketched in blue ink, details how North Korean soldiers deployed to support Russia in the Ukraine war should respond to the approach of a Ukrainian drone. One soldier—referred to as “bait" in the drawing—should stand still to lure the drone so that a pair of comrades can attempt to shoot it down.
The grisly tactics were divulged in a diary taken off a slain North Korean soldier on Dec. 21, with passages containing mundane details of life at the front, descriptions of combat tactics and expressions of love for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to excerpts recently made public by Ukraine’s special-operations forces. Independent experts say the diary entries appear genuine, with penmanship, word choice and expressions of ideological fervor all common in North Korea.
The young soldier who penned the passage about the drone died in a firefight alongside two other compatriots, according to Ukraine’s special forces. “Even at the cost of my life, I will carry out the Supreme Commander’s orders without hesitation," reads one entry from the diary. “I will show the world the bravery and sacrifice of Kim Jong Un’s special forces." The roughly 12,000 North Korean soldiers who arrived in Russia’s Kursk region last October were kept from the front lines for months, digging trenches and offering logistical support.
Now they have been deployed into combat—and are being killed at a high rate as they fight another country’s war far away from home. Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang has publicly confirmed the presence of North Korean soldiers in Russia, which came just months after the two countries signed a mutual defense pact in Pyongyang. Neither government responded
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