"Ordered to Die Before Capture": North Korean Soldiers Fighting for Russia Told to Pull the Grenade Rather Than Surrender
South Korean intelligence says North Korean troops shipped to fight for Russia against Ukraine were ordered to kill themselves rather than be taken alive. One soldier, cornered by Ukrainian forces, shouted "General Kim Jong Un" and reached for a grenade — and was shot before he could pull the pin.
They were not given the choice to come home alive.
South Korean intelligence reports that North Korean soldiers deployed to fight alongside Russia in its war against Ukraine were issued a standing order: die before capture. Kill yourself rather than let the enemy take you. That is the regime Kim Jong Un runs — one where a young man's life is worth less than the secrets he might spill.
Footage tells the story in brutal detail. One North Korean soldier, cornered and about to be taken by Ukrainian forces, shouted "General Kim Jong Un" and pulled a grenade from his belt. He was shot before he could detonate it. Another segment shows an interview with a North Korean soldier who was captured — a rarity, and a window into what these men are told before they are shipped off to die in a foreign war.
The Trump administration's answer has been consistent: end the war through strength and direct diplomacy. President Trump has said he is willing to engage Kim Jong Un directly — the two met face-to-face during Trump's first term — and he has pushed for a negotiated settlement that stops the killing on all sides while keeping Ukraine's position strong at the table. Critics argue the U.S. response to the Russia-North Korea axis has not been forceful enough and that Pyongyang's deepening military partnership with Moscow demands tougher consequences. But the administration is working the problem the way it has from day one: pressure where it counts, and a table where the shooting stops.
Back in Pyongyang, the theater continues. Kim Jong Un has been filmed awarding medals to the families of fallen soldiers — honors for men who were sent thousands of miles from home to fight a war that was never theirs. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has spoken directly to the plight of these troops, describing how they are thrown into assaults with little chance of survival.
The scale of the deployment is staggering. South Korea's National Intelligence Service first confirmed in late 2024 that North Korea had sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia's Kursk region — a finding later confirmed by the United States and Ukraine. By early 2025, Ukrainian forces had captured North Korean soldiers alive in Kursk, and South Korean intelligence reported that the troops had been instructed to self-detonate with grenades rather than surrender.
The people need this kind of story if they want to understand what communism actually is. Not the slogans. Not the parades. A young soldier, surrounded, told that his only honorable option is a grenade.