2025-09-02
28 分钟This is The Guardian.
Today, what North Korean troops are doing in Ukraine and what Kim Jong-un is getting out of it.
My name is Hyun Seung Lee.
I'm a former North Korean soldier.
Here's a voice you don't often get to hear.
My role was to infiltrate enemy lines and locate key targets,
such as enemy artillery units, supply lines and commander posts.
Like all North Korean men, Hyun Sung was conscripted into the army aged just 17.
The length varies, but it's typically 7 to 10 years for male and then 5 to 7 years for female.
Life as a soldier was hard.
The days were long and repetitive.
Due to the lack of food,
we had to do more farming and involved in gathering woods from the mountains.
For the rest of time, we do training, some martial arts and then combat technique.
And staying clean and warm was a constant battle.
Hygiene facilities are almost non-existent.
Most soldiers wash their clothes and bathe in streams or rivers.
And bathing and laundry are usually allowed once a week.
And soldiers must gather their own firewood from nearby mountains for heating and cooking.
The North Korean Army, the Korean People's Army to give it its proper name,