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Photos published by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Jan 11, 2025 shows two North Korean military personnel captured by Ukraine forces soldiers in the Kursk region. Two soldiers, though wounded, survived and were transported to Kyiv, where they are now communicating with the Security Service of Ukraine, Zelenskyy said. This was not an easy task: Russian forces and other North Korean military personnel usually execute their wounded to erase any evidence of North Korea’s involvement in the war against Ukraine, he said. I am grateful to the soldiers of Tactical Group No. 84 of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as our paratroopers, who captured these two individuals.
North Korean troops reportedly face brutal treatment in Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Saturday that his troops had captured two North Korean soldiers in the Kursk region and released a video of them describing their experience fighting for Russia. Zelensky said, “This was not an easy task: Russian forces and other North Korean military personnel usually execute their wounded to erase any evidence of North Korea’s involvement in the war against Ukraine.”
The two soldiers are now receiving medical attention in Kyiv. Video of interviews with them shows one with a facial wound and one with a broken leg. One claimed he had believed his unit was going to Russia for training, not to fight Ukrainians, and showed that he had been issued false Russian documents.
Ukrainian forces fighting the North Koreans have described them as highly motivated and professional, but their outdated tactics and habit of committing suicide to avoid capture have led to high casualties. A North Korean diary published by Ukraine’s military described using soldiers as bait to draw in drones that other troops could then shoot down, a risky tactic that, if used widely, has likely contributed to between 1,000 and 4,000 casualties out of the roughly 12,000 who were originally deployed.
That attrition rate is simply not sustainable, and though Pyongyang has over 1.2 million military men, there are few highly indoctrinated and capable special forces. That might not be a big issue if incoming US President Donald Trump ends the war promptly as he has promised, but we’re watching for signs of impatience from Pyongyang.The rise of a leaderless world: Why 2025 marks a turning point, with Francis Fukuyama
Listen: On the GZERO World Podcast, we’re taking a look at some of the top geopolitical risks of 2025. This looks to be the year that the G-Zero wins. As longtime listeners will know, a G-Zero world is an era when no one power or group of powers is both willing and able to drive a global agenda and maintain international order. We’ve been living with this lack of international leadership for nearly a decade now. But in 2025, the problem will get a lot worse. We are heading back to the law of the jungle. A world where the strongest do what they can while the weakest are condemned to suffer what they must. And the former—whether states, companies, or individuals—can't be trusted to act in the interest of those they have power over. It's not a sustainable trajectory. But it’s the one we’re on. Joining Ian Bremmer to peer into this cloudy crystal ball is renowned Stanford political scientist Francis Fukuyama.
Subscribe to the GZERO World Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.
Zelensky and Austin, Ukraine Defense Contact Group, Germany
Ukraine’s support system splinters
In anticipation, European members have created eight subgroups, known as capability coalitions, each of which is focused on ensuring that critical military technologies — like long-range missiles, drones, and ammunition — continue to be provided even without US leadership.
But Austin is the architect of the coalition, and his absence will leave a void that may not be filled. The meeting comes less than two weeks before Donald Trump takes office, and the president-elect opposed sending further Ukraine aid on the campaign trail and has promised to bring an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict “on day one” of his administration. Meanwhile, in Europe, rightward-shifting governments are showing less interest in the war and importing record amounts of liquified natural gas from Russia, while Ukraine is struggling to keep up its troop numbers and losing ground.
Moscow turns off the tap
What is the impact? Gazprom will lose close to $5 billion in annual gas sales, while Ukraine will lose $800 million a year in transit fees from Russia. Analysts do not expect a surge in gas prices, and so far the European winter has been mild. EU nations had already cut dependency on Russian gas from 40% to less than 10% since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, ramping up imports of liquefied natural gas from the US and Qatar and accelerating investments in renewables. In 2023, Russia shipped around 15 billion cubic meters of gas through Ukraine to Europe, down from 65 billion cubic meters in 2020.
What’s next? While turning off the taps represents a symbolic end to Europe’s reliance on Russian gas, several EU countries, including Slovakia and Austria, continued to import significant amounts of gas from Russia, and will now rely on reserves and diversification. Slovakia has decried the stoppage, but EU candidate Moldova could face the worst impact. A harsh winter coupled with energy shortages in its breakaway area of Transnistria could prompt an exodus of pro-Russian refugees to Moldova, complicating its EU bid and further straining energy resources.
Gazprom will continue to deliver gas to Hungary, Turkey, and Serbia via other channels, including the TurkStream pipeline across the Black Sea.Ukrainian Armed Forces are deployed in the middle of the conflict with Russia on December 16, 2024. Ukraine claims that Russia has begun sending North Korean soldiers en masse to assaults in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces repel daily Russian attacks and control important areas.
North Korea preparing to send more troops to Russia as casualties rise, says Seoul
South Korean military officials said Monday that they had detected North Korean preparations to deploy more troops and weapons to Russia, and elaborated that at least 100 of Pyongyang’s soldiers had been killed and 1,000 more wounded so far, while Ukrainians claim 200 have died and nearly 3,000 had been wounded. If Seoul’s estimates are accurate, that would mean approximately one out of every ten troops dispatched since late October has already taken a wound or died.
The high casualty figures may stem from lack of battlefield experience and modern equipment, as North Korean units embedded with Russian peers attempt to push Ukrainians out of the Kursk region. It isn’t dampening Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un’s enthusiasm for cooperating with Russia, however, with the South Korean military claiming he has developed new suicide drones to send to the battlefront. US intelligence agencies said Monday that they believe North Korea offered Russia its troops, rather than the request originating in Moscow, in expectation of help with defense technology and political backing on the world stage.
Watch out for a nasty New Year’s gift, too. Seoul says Pyongyang may attempt to test a hypersonic missile in late December or early January. Just ahead of a presidential transition in the US, and with chaos in South Korean politics caused by impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol’s attempt to impose martial law on Dec. 3, don’t hold your breath for a strong response.An F/A-18 Hornet approaches the flight deck of aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt as USS McFaul trails behind, October 30, 2001. Theodore Roosevelt and its carrier airwing are conducting missions in support of operation Enduring Freedom.
Hard Numbers: US friendly fire downs F/A-18, Russia guns down prisoners, US court rules on Pegasus spyware case, China goes after Canadian activists
2: Two US Navy pilots were forced to eject from their F/A-18 fighter over the Red Sea on Sunday during a “friendly fire” incident when a US warship targeted their plane with a missile. Both pilots survived the ejection but one sustained minor injuries, and it is not immediately clear why the ship, which was on station to shoot down Houthi missiles launched from Yemen, fired upon the aircraft.
127: Russian forces have summarily executed at least 127 Ukrainian troops this year according to prosecutors investigating these war crimes. The figures is an immense spike — officials counted just 20 summary executions of prisoners of war in 2022 and 2023 combined — suggesting an alarming shift in Russian doctrine.
1,400: A US court on Friday ruled that Israeli cyber-intelligence firm NSO Group was liable for hacking the devices of 1,400 WhatsApp users using the secretive software known as Pegasus, in violation of US cybersecurity laws. Pegasus has been implicated in hacks on dissidents by authoritarian governments around the world, and has been on a US blacklist since 2021.
20: Beijing announced Sunday it was taking punitive action against twenty people and two Canadian institutions advocating on behalf of the human rights of Tibetan and Uyghur minorities in China. The measures include asset freezes, bans on entry to China, and seizure of any real estate in the PRC. They come just weeks after Canada also announced sanctions on Chinese officials accused of human rights abuses.Foreign policy in a fractured world: US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on global threats and Joe Biden's legacy
Listen: Outgoing US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan joins Ian Bremmer in front of a live audience at the 92nd Street Y in New York City for a rare and wide-ranging GZERO World interview about the biggest geopolitical threats facing the United States, Joe Biden’s foreign policy legacy, and how much will (or won’t) change when the Trump administration takes office in 2025. The world has changed dramatically since Biden entered the White House in 2021, and Sullivan has been the driving force behind some of the administration’s most consequential–and controversial–decisions over the past four years. The outgoing National Security Advisor reflects on his time in office, from managing strategic competition with China to supporting Ukraine in the face of Russia’s invasion to navigating the US-Israel relationship. He warns that bad actors see presidential transitions as moments of opportunity, so it’s imperative that we send a “clear and common message” to both friends and adversaries during what he calls “a huge, plastic moment of turbulence and transition” in global politics.
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Putin isn't winning in Ukraine, says US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan
Filmed live before an audience at New York City’s iconic 92nd Street Y, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan sat down for an in-depth conversation with Ian Bremmer as part of GZERO World, Bremmer's PBS global affairs TV series. Marking one of his final public interviews as President Biden's top foreign policy advisor, Sullivan offered a candid assessment of global geopolitics, with a sharp focus on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and its broader implications.
In a striking moment, Sullivan dismantled the perception of Russian success in Ukraine: “They set out on a strategic objective of taking the capital Kyiv, wiping Ukraine as we know it off the map... and they have failed in that. And they will fail in that,” he declared. Sullivan emphasized that while the war imposes profound costs on Ukraine, the resilience of its people and the steadfast support of allies have kept the nation standing.
The revealing conversation also touched on the shifting dynamics within NATO, the economic strain on authoritarian regimes, and the critical path toward a just peace for Ukraine. Reflecting on the broader picture, Sullivan noted, “We tend, as democracies, to think, ‘Oh, we’re not doing so great.’ But let’s not forget: Kyiv stands. Ukraine stands. Ukraine will stand at the end of this.”
Watch the full interview with Jake Sullivan on GZERO World with Ian Bremmer on US public television beginning this Friday, December 20. Check local listings.
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
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