Lee Byung-hun, believed to be the only South Korean enlisted with Ukrainian forces, describes his service as a way of 'showing his respect to his heroes,' the western nations that fought in the 1950s to save South Korea from the North. He expresses pity for the North Korean fighters, calling them 'very young' and noting they likely have little understanding of the conflict.
Lee Byung-hun, believed to be the only South Korea n enlisted with Ukrainian forces, says the world should be helping Ukraine. He describes his service as a way of 'showing my respect to my heroes,' the western nations that fought in the 1950s to save South Korea from the North. When he was a soldier in the South Korea n army, Lee Byung-hun spent much of his three-year service peering across the Demilitarized Zone at the North Korea n army on the other side.
Back then, he considered the soldiers he watched through his binoculars to be the enemy, a constant threat to his family and his hometown of Seoul. More than 30 years later, Mr. Lee is once again on the opposite side of a conflict line from North Korean troops – this time more than 8,000 kilometres away from home in the war between Russia and Ukraine. It’s a war that has reportedly left thousands of North Koreans dead and injured – and has cost Mr. Lee his left arm. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sent some 11,000 soldiers to shore up Russian President Vladimir Putin’s three-year-old invasion of Ukraine. The North Koreans have been fighting, and reportedly taking heavy casualties, on the front line in Russia’s Kursk region, part of which has been under Ukrainian control since a surprise offensive last summer.Mr. Lee, who keeps photos of his wartime exploits on his phone, feels pity for the North Korean fighters: 'They are very young.' Mr. Lee is believed to be the only South Korean currently enlisted on the Ukrainian side of the conflict, though he is seeking discharge papers due to his injury. He says he now feels sorry for his old enemies. “It makes me so sad. I’m thinking of their moms and dads and families,” he said in an interview near Kyiv. “They are very young. These are teenagers on the front line.” Ukrainian and Western officials estimate that nearly a third of the North Koreans have been killed or wounded since they first clashed with Ukrainian troops in early November. That high casualty rate has been attributed to tactics that have seen waves of North Koreans charge directly at Ukrainian lines, or even across minefields, leaving Russian troops to advance behind them. The diary of one North Korean killed in combat – identified as Private Jong Kyong-hong – suggests he and his comrades were ill-prepared for modern warfare, particularly the explosive drones that both sides use to target the enemy. A rudimentary stick-figure drawing on one page of the diary shows one soldier, referred to as “bait,” standing in the open to draw a drone closer while two of his comrades attempt to shoot it out of the sky. “Even at the cost of my life, I will carry out the Supreme Commander’s orders without hesitation,” Pte. Jong writes on one of the pages published on social media by the Ukrainian military. “I will show the world the bravery and sacrifice of Kim Jong-un’s special forces.” In pages from a North Korean soldier’s diary, shared on a Telegram channel used by Ukrainian forces, a highlighted drawing shows how one soldier lures a drone within shooting distance from others. Mr. Lee said the North Koreans – who have lived their entire lives in Mr. Kim’s “hermit kingdom,” with almost no information about the outside world – would have little idea about who they were fighting or why. He said the deployment was a cynical way for Mr. Kim’s regime to make money. Moscow is paying Pyongyang US$2,000 per soldier, per month, according to South Korean media reports citing South Korea’s intelligence service. The 57-year-old former South Korean Marine took a meandering route to the same war. After his military service, Mr. Lee became a television cameraman but lost that job in the 1998 financial crisis. Afterward, he moved from one country to another, trying his hand at an array of small business ventures, such as importing face masks to Europe during the pandemic. In 2023, he saw a photo exhibit outside the Ukrainian embassy in Prague of alleged war crimes committed by the Russian army during the first year of the invasion. He decided to enlist in the International Legion for the Defence of Ukraine, believing it was his duty to fight for the country’s freedom, just as United Nations soldiers had fought seven decades earlier to defend what is now South Korea. “I’m just showing my respect to my heroes. The UN, 16 countries, saved South Korea, they saved my country,” he said, referring to the 1950-53 Korean War, which saw U.S.-led international forces liberate Seoul and drive North Korean and Chinese troops back behind what is now the Demilitarized Zone. “Now Ukraine is the same,” Mr. Lee added. “The whole world should be helping Ukraine.”This past November, first responders in Kyiv take stock of the damage that a North Korean-made Hwasong-11 missile caused at a residential building. Several South Koreans joined the International Legion early in the war, though most left after Seoul began arresting veterans of the conflict upon their return home. Mr Lee says he is hoping to return to South Korea, but only when the war is over
UKRAINE NORTH KOREA SOUTH KOREA WAR INTERNATIONAL LEGION RUSSIA KIM JONG-UN SOLDIERS DIARY DRONES MILITARY CONFLICT
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