Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that several “seriously wounded” North Korean soldiers died from their injuries after being captured by Ukrainian forces.

Although the precise details of the arrangement have not been made public, there has been considerable media coverage of North Korea’s dispatch of combat troops to Russia to support Vladimir Putin’s offensive in Ukraine.

North Korean troops are impacting the battle dynamics in Kursk, with heavy casualties reported and Ukraine's control weakening.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was preparing to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria, less than a month after the overthrow of the Russia-backed government in Damascus.

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.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that "several" wounded North Korean soldiers died after being captured by Ukrainian forces, as he accused Russia of throwing them into battle with "minimal protection".

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

"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.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently said there have been over 3,000 North Korean casualties in Kursk. South Korea reported over 1,000 casualties last week. Newsweek has not verified either figure. Neither Pyongyang nor Moscow has acknowledged the presence of North Korean troops in Russia.

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.

The North Korean army is one of the world’s largest.​ As it joins Russia’s war against Ukraine, its soldiers are paying a price for Kim Jong-un’s geopolitical maneuvers.