Ukraine captures injured North Korean soldier who was fighting for Russia, claims South Korea

This is the first time Ukraine captured a North Korean soldier ever since media reports emerged that soldiers from the country are aiding Russia in its ongoing conflict.

"Through real-time information sharing with a friendly nation's intelligence organization, (we) confirmed the capture of a wounded North Korean soldier and plans to thoroughly examine the subsequent development," the National Intelligence Service said in a brief release as quoted by South Korean Yonhap news agency.

An image of the soldier has now gone viral on social media, especially Telegram.

Details about the condition of the soldier are still not known.

He was captured by the Special Operations Forces (SOF) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, reported Ukrainian news portal Militarnyi.

Last month while speaking to the European Parliament, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was quoted as saying by The Guardian that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had brought 11,000 North Korean troops to Ukraine’s borders and “this contingent may grow to 100,000”.

Moscow, however, did not confirm or deny the claims made by Zelenskyy so far.

Yang Uk, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, told the BBC, " This is the first in a string of captures and killings."

"For Ukrainians, it's more beneficial to capture these North Korean troops and try to exchange them with Russians for Ukrainian prisoners of war," he said.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.