- Ukraine has released parts of what its forces say is the diary of a North Korean soldier.
- They include a stick figure sketch of using a friend as “bait” to bring down a drone.
- Other entries include thoughts on class struggles and an account of the theft of undetected Russian items.
Excerpts from a North Korean soldier’s diary released by Ukraine offer a glimpse into how Pyongyang’s troops in Russia believed they could defend themselves against drone and artillery attacks.
Ukrainian special forces have been releasing excerpts of the diary since Christmas week, saying the notes were written by a now-deceased North Korean private named Gyeong Hong Jong.
The latest of these, released on Thursday, appeared to show the young soldier confessing to stealing items from his Russian allies to sell. He did not specify what the stolen goods were, but wrote that they had been seized.
“While I was working in the barracks, I thought no one was watching me and put the Russians’ things in my pocket,” the excerpt from the diary reads, according to Ukrainian special forces.
“I will no longer trade the belongings of others. I will advance heroically to the front and destroy the enemy,” added the soldier.
Other recordings released by Ukraine included praise of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and thoughts on class warfare.
“Missing my homeland after leaving the warm embrace of my beloved father and mother here on Russian soil. I celebrate the birthday of my best friend Song Ji Myong,” another entry read, according to a translation by The Wall Street Journal.
One of the earliest entries, published by Ukraine on Dec. 26, featured a picture drawing of what the soldier described as “How to take down a drone.”
The simple illustration showed a figure standing upright on open ground, while two other stick figures shot at a quadcopter drone.
“If a UAV is sighted, gather in groups of three,” the journal wrote, according to The Journal’s translation. “One person should act as a decoy to lure the drone while the other two target and neutralize it with precision shots. The decoy should keep a distance of seven meters from the drone. The other two should prepare to shoot the drone down from a distance of 10 to 12 meters when the bait is standing still, the drone will stop and it may crash”.
Ukrainian special forces said the North Korean soldier also wrote down how to avoid artillery fire. An excerpt from his diary said Pyongyang’s troops were supposed to “disperse into small groups” if fired upon by artillery.
The fragment also said that he could hide in the location of the “previous strike” because he believed that artillery does not repeatedly hit the exact same place.
Business Insider could not independently verify the authenticity of the diary entries. Ukraine posted photos of the soldier’s corpse and passport. The newspaper also quoted a former North Korean soldier and a former South Korean major general who said the choice of words in the diary was in line with the ideology and vernacular of North Korean troops.
The soldier’s diary may provide insight into how North Korean forces are adapting battlefield doctrine for combat in Russia.
The West worries that Pyongyang’s involvement will allow its forces to learn valuable lessons from the battle with Ukraine, especially as they face American and European equipment and drone warfare.
Dorothy Camille Shea, the US deputy ambassador to the UN, said on Wednesday that Pyongyang “is benefiting significantly from receiving Russian military equipment, technology and experience, making it better able to wage war against its neighbours”.
Western and South Korean intelligence say 12,000 North Korean troops are stationed and fighting in Kursk, a Russian border region that Ukraine attacked in the summer of 2024.
Moscow has not addressed the presence of Pyongyang’s troops on its soil, but Ukraine has increasingly sought to highlight North Korea’s direct involvement in the war.
Recently, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy released images of what he said were two captured North Korean soldiers. He did not provide evidence that they were North Korean, although Seoul’s intelligence service supported his claim.
“This was not an easy task: Russian forces and other North Korean military personnel routinely execute their wounded to erase any evidence of North Korea’s involvement in the war against Ukraine,” Zelenskyy wrote. He said about 3,000 North Korean soldiers were wounded or killed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that the country’s military had captured two North Korean soldiers in Kursk. Anatolia via Getty Images
Thousands of North Korean troops serve as a valuable source of manpower for Russia, which is relying on massive infantry assaults along the front line to wear down Ukraine’s defenses.
However, Pyongyang’s reinforcements still pale in comparison to the more than 600,000 people Ukraine and the West believe Moscow has lost.
Russia is believed to be providing Kim with the necessary finances, economic support, food and technology in exchange for the latter’s troops.
