An injured North Korean soldier captured by Ukrainian forces has died, according to South Korean media. The man is thought to be the first North Korean prisoner of war taken into custody since Pyongyang sent troops to aid Russia in the conflict in Ukraine.

The first North Korean soldier taken prisoner of war by Ukrainian forces while fighting for Russia has died of his injuries, South Korean intelligence said Friday.

"Through various sources of information and intelligence, we assess that North Korean troops who have recently engaged in combat with Ukrainian forces have suffered around 1,100 casualties," the JCS said in a statement.

Ukraine’s ambassador to South Korea, Dmytro Ponomarenko, echoed these assessments earlier this month. Speaking to Voice of America, he warned that up to 15,000 North Korean troops could be ...

South Korea's spy agency said Friday it had confirmed that a North Korean soldier sent to back Russia's war against Ukraine had been captured by Ukrainian forces.

A North Korean soldier who was captured while fighting in Russia's war against Ukraine has died of his wounds, South Korea's spy agency said on Friday. "It has been confirmed through an allied intelligence agency that the North Korean soldier captured alive on December 26th has just passed away due to worsening wounds," the NIS said in a statement.

Despite their elite status, North Korea's "Storm" troops were ill-prepared for the war, South Korea's National Intelligence Service said.

South Korea's spy agency has confirmed that a North Korean soldier fighting on the Russian side was captured by the Ukrainian military and later died.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this month that Russia was trying to "conceal losses" of North Korean troops fighting against Ukraine.

Russia is deploying “human waves” of North Korean soldiers, the U.S. said, and one soldier captured by Ukraine died of his injuries. Others died by suicide.