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What the North Koreans took into battle against Ukraine

What the North Koreans took into battle against Ukraine

Notes and weapons recovered from the battlefield are helping Kyiv to better understand the thousands of troops from East Asia fighting on Russia’s side.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, centre, meets soldiers who took part in training in North Korea. Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP

Serhii Korolchuk and Siobhan O'Grady

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“Resistance is futile.” “Surrender.” “You’re all surrounded.”

The phrases, printed in Korean with rough Russian transliterations on a weathered piece of paper Ukrainian troops said they took off a dead North Korean soldier this month, offer a remarkable insight into how Russia appears to have prepared their new allies to take Ukrainian prisoners during their assaults on the front lines.

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Original URL: https://www.afr.com/world/europe/what-the-north-koreans-took-into-battle-against-ukraine-20250120-p5l5uh