North Korea has not responded to reports of its troops captured or killed by Ukraine forces. It has never publicised the deployment or large shipments of North Korean artillery shells and other weapons sent to Russia to help its war against Ukraine, although they marked the country’s first intervention in a major armed conflict overseas in decades.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he’s willing to hand over the soldiers to North Korea, if Kim Jong Un arranges for an exchange with Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia.

Videos of captured North Korean troops posted online by Ukrainian President Zelensky show them admitting that they thought they were being sent on an exercise.

After his inauguration on January 20, 2025, Donald Trump officially became president of the United States. Meanwhile, Ukraine's intelligence officers interrogated the North Korean soldiers about their transportation to Russian territory.

Cohabitation is difficult on the front line. Putin's armed forces avoid all contact with them, considering them “cruel and devoid of humanity.” Testimonies from Russian prisoners speak of many problems with North Koreans on the front line.

One of the two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukraine this month has claimed that he arrived in Russia without knowing whom he would be fighting, according to another video of his interrogation released by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.