For the last three months, Ukraine and its allies have been raising alarm about North Korea’s deployment of thousands of soldiers to fight for Russia, a once-unthinkable development that has come to exemplify the rapid expansion of the two countries’ bilateral ties.

But behind the sweeping geopolitical and military implications of the DPRK’s support for Russia’s invasion lies a quieter tragedy: the plight of the young men forcibly sent to fight in a brutal war far from home.

According to Kyiv’s estimates, some 12,000 North Korean troopshave entered combat in Russia’s Kursk region, reportedly suffering heavy casualties while helping