Inside the diary of a North Korean soldier fighting in Ukraine

According to reports from Ukrainian Special Operations Forces, a diary belonging to Gyeong Hong-Jong, a North Korean soldier deployed in Russia's Kursk Region to combat Ukrainian forces, has been discovered.

The journal offers a unique insight into the training, knowledge and thoughts of a North Korean soldier mobilized into the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

Ukrainian Special Forces have been slowly translating and sharing parts of the diary with news outlets.

British newspaper The Sun describes the first excerpt released as the fallen soldier writing a birthday greeting to a close friend.

“I, having left my homeland, on unfamiliar Russian land, send birthday congratulations to my friend Song Ji-myung”, cites The Sun, which describes the gesture as an attempt to cling to normalcy amid the terrible battlefield the soldier faced.

Ukrainian news outlet Ukrainska Pravda describes other parts of the dairy as more tactical in nature, with one section describing how to hunt down a drone.

The strategy described involves having a soldier acting as bait while two others, at a distance, try to shoot down the drone.

According to the Ukrainska Pravda, it's unclear if this method was developed by the North Korean military or was taught by Russian instructors.

Finally, the third and (at the time) last translated part of the journal reveals that Gyeong was sent to fight into Russian soil for some alleged wrongdoing.

“Defending the homeland is the sacred duty of every citizen, and the greatest duty is to protect the nation, which is where my happiness lies”, writes the fallen North Korean soldier, as quoted by Ukrainska Pradva.

“The sins I’ve committed are unforgivable, but my homeland has given me a chance for redemption, a fresh start in life”, admits Gyeong. “When we win the war and return to our homeland, I will submit a petition to the Party”.

According to The Sun, Gyeong was only 27 when he was shipped to war, alongside thousands of North Korean troops, to fight and die in Eastern Europe.

The Sun reports that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claims that 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded in Kursk, out of a speculated total of 12,000 who were deployed to Russia.

Zelensky claims that Russian soldiers have routinely burned off the face of fallen North Korean troops to hide their identities.

NBC News writes that North Korean soldiers have also been reportedly taking their own lives rather than being captured by Ukrainian troops.

The Pentagon revealed that this is because North Korean soldiers fear harsh repercussions against their families if the regime led by Kim Jong-un discovers that they have been captured.

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