c/world · by throws_lemy@lemmy.nz · 115d

Kim praises North Korean soldiers who blew themselves up to evade Ukraine capture

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/29/kim-north-korea-soldiers-blow-themselves-up-ukraine

108 points · 22 comments · view on lemmy.world

22 Comments

Because of your sacrifice there is now more to eat

BillyClark@piefed.social · 14 pts · 115d (9 replies)

Either they were completely brainwashed or they were afraid of what would happen to their families if they failed to follow orders. You hear the same thing over and over from North Korean defectors about why North Koreans are willing to do things like that.

13igTyme@piefed.social · 9 pts · 115d (3 replies)

Likely brain washed. Article mentions two soldiers that were captured and unable to blow themselves up. They said they regret not being able to fully their duty, but Kim is still calling them heroes because they were too injured to carry it out.

BillyClark@piefed.social · 7 pts · 115d (2 replies)

The article mentions, IIRC that 6,000 of them died and only two were captured. Given there are so many soldiers, it's likely that some of them had different motives, considering what you hear from NK defectors.

13igTyme@piefed.social · 3 pts · 115d (1 reply)

Two North Koreans were captured and are being held as prisoners of war in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. Both had tried to blew themselves up but had been unable to do so because of their severe injuries. One of them has expressed guilt at his failure to carry out orders, it is understood.

BillyClark@piefed.social · 1 pts · 115d

There seems to be some basic miscommunication here. Your quote has nothing to do with the point I made. Either I made the point badly, or you read my comment badly, but either way, I don't think I'm going to spend more time on this.

voaw@lemmy.world · -15 pts · 115d (4 replies)

Please cite your sources. I am curious if they are the same “North Korean defectors” funded by the CIA to contribute to all of the outlandish anti-communist propaganda NED and AGM mouthpieces spout.

BillyClark@piefed.social · 12 pts · 115d (3 replies)

Sorry, are you suggesting that North Korea is actually a nice place, where they're not brainwashed, and where people aren't put into forced labor camps if their family members defect, but I've just been misled by CIA propaganda? Attached to a story about North Koreans being ordered to kill themselves rather than be captured?

voaw@lemmy.world · -4 pts · 115d (2 replies)

Indeed. Again, where are you getting this information about “forced labor camps”?

BillyClark@piefed.social · 4 pts · 115d (1 reply)

Here's one UN source.

North Koreans are “controlled and exploited through an extensive and multi-layered system of forced labour” directed toward the State's interests rather than the people's, the report authors concluded.

Note that this was the first result from my search, so I can only assume that means you never even tried to find any information yourself, yet you still disbelieved it.

voaw@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 113d

It’s notable that their only source are some defectors who escaped. Sounds kind of like a Yeonmi Park situation. Whether or not that is true, it should be noted that forced labor in prisons in the US is rampant:

https://apnews.com/article/prison-to-plate-inmate-labor-investigation-c6f0eb4747963283316e494eadf08c4e

https://www.npr.org/2023/11/13/1210564359/slavery-prison-forced-labor-movement

https://news.uchicago.edu/story/us-prison-labor-programs-violate-fundamental-human-rights-new-report-finds

MrMakabar@slrpnk.net · 3 pts · 115d (8 replies)

According to South Korean and Ukrainian officials, more than 6,000 North Koreans were killed in intense fighting.

That is only a bit lower then US losses in Iraq and Afghanistan combined....

frisbird@lemmy.ml · -1 pts · 115d (7 replies)

As reported by Iraq and Afghanistan? Because that would be the equivalent here. How would South Korean officials know anything about the number of North Koreans killed at the border between Russia and Ukraine?

finallymadeanaccount@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 115d (6 replies)

I suspect that SK has quite the intelligence apparatus when it comes to keeping an eye on citizens of NK.

frisbird@lemmy.ml · 0 pts · 115d (5 replies)

Why do you think that? DPRK has exactly the kind of system that is almost impossible to establish and maintain deep infiltration of.

voaw@lemmy.world · -3 pts · 115d (4 replies)

Because SK is a puppet state whose military and intelligence are controlled by the US, the most rabidly anti-communist force on the planet.

frisbird@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 115d (2 replies)

Yes, and I don't think they have effective intelligence in the DPRK

voaw@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 115d (1 reply)

How could anyone living outside the DPRK ever know whether they have good intelligence or not?

frisbird@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 115d

God damn why is it so hard to communicate? The original commenter was that SK had very good intelligence on exactly what was happening in the DPRK. I said that was unlikely because DPRK is likely one of the hardest countries in the world to establish and maintain an embedded intelligence capability within. I never said anything about the DPRK's intelligence capabilities.

Bbbbbbbbbbb@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 115d

Its hard to tell if the US or "communist" states are the most rabid anti communist states

finallymadeanaccount@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 115d (1 reply)

Not like they have a choice. If they're captured in Ukraine, they're usually sent back home. If they're sent back home, they and/or their families are killed by the State.

voaw@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 115d

Love how you just totally pulled this out of your ass.