Seoul: A North Korean soldier captured by Ukraine revealed that North Korea has military training camps featuring mockups of facilities and buildings in Seoul, Busan, and Jeju Island.
According to Yonhap News Agency, this information was disclosed by a South Korean lawmaker, Rep. Yu Yong-weon of the ruling People Power Party, who recently met the soldier. The soldier, identified by his surname Ri, was captured by Ukrainian forces in January during combat against Kyiv in Russia's Kursk region.
"When you go to the place where we train, called the Armed Forces Training Ground, it is filled with buildings modeled after the terrain of Seoul's Jongno District, as well as Busan, Daegu, Jeonju, and Jeju Island," Ri stated in an audio recording released by Yu during an interview with SBS radio. The training site, apparently aimed at simulating raids on South Korea, is located in Koksan County in North Hwanghae Province, North Korea.
Yu noted that while North Korea has been known to build training sites resembling the former presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae for military exercises, the existence of such a facility specifically in Koksan was largely unknown. "I've heard of similar sites modeled after cities like Busan, but this is the first time I've heard that even Jeju Island was replicated," Yu mentioned. He also noted that such training sites exist in multiple locations aside from Koksan.
Yu was asked whether these training camps could be seen as preparations for an invasion of South Korea. He affirmed, "It can be seen as training in preparation for contingencies." In the audio clip, another North Korean soldier captured by Kyiv expressed that he "did not come to Ukraine for any particular reason" and merely followed orders. He believed their dispatch was to "help Russia that was in trouble" given the alliance between North Korea and Russia.