A stick figure drawing in a North Korean soldier's diary showed how Pyongyang's forces planned to use each other as drone bait

• Ukraine has released fragments of what its forces say is the diary of a North Korean soldier.

• They include a stick figure sketch of using a comrade as “bait” to shoot down a drone.

• Other entries include musings on class struggle and a confession to stealing secret Russian artifacts.

Excerpts from a North Korean soldier's diary released by Ukraine provide a glimpse of how Pyongyang's forces in Russia thought they could defend themselves against drones and artillery attacks.

Ukraine's special forces have released excerpts from the diary since Christmas week, saying the entries were written by a now-deceased North Korean soldier named Gyeong Hong Jong.

The latest of these, published on Thursday, appeared to feature the young soldier who confessed to stealing items from his Russian allies to sell. He did not specify what the stolen goods were, but wrote that he had been arrested.

“While I was working in the barracks, I thought that no one was watching me and putting the Russians' things in my pocket,” said the diary excerpt of the Ukrainian special forces.

“I will no longer deal in other people's belongings. I will advance heroically into the vanguard and destroy the enemy,” the soldier added.

Other entries released by Ukraine included paeans to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and musings on class struggle.

“I long for my homeland, now that I have left the warm embrace of my dear father and mother here on Russian soil. I celebrate the birthday of my close comrade Song Ji Myong,” said another article, translated from The Wall Street Journal.

One of the first entries, published by Ukraine on December 26, included a stick figure drawing of what the soldier described as “How to eliminate a drone.”

The simple illustration showed a figure standing upright in open ground, while two more stick figures shot at a quadcopter drone.

“If a UAV is spotted, gather groups of three,” the diary read, according to The Journal's translation. “One person should act as bait to lure the drone, while the other two aim and neutralize it with precision shooting. The bait must maintain a distance of seven meters from the drone. The other two must prepare to shoot down the drone from a distance. from 10 to 12 meters. If the bait stands still, the drone will stop and can be shot down.”

Ukraine's special forces said the North Korean soldier also wrote about how to avoid artillery strikes. An excerpt from his diary stated that Pyongyang's troops had to “disperse into small groups” when shelled by artillery.

The excerpt also stated that he was able to hide at the location of “the previous hit” because he believed that artillery would not hit the exact same spot repeatedly.

Business Insider could not independently verify the authenticity of the diary entries. Ukraine posted photos of what it said was the soldier's corpse and passport. The Journal also quoted a former North Korean soldier and a former South Korean major general who said the choice of words in the diary was in line with the ideology and language of North Korean troops.

The soldier's diary could provide insight into how North Korean forces are adapting battlefield doctrine to the fight in Russia.

The West worries that Pyongyang's involvement will allow its forces to learn valuable lessons from the fight against Ukraine, especially as they face American and European equipment and drone warfare.

Dorothy Camille Shea, the deputy US ambassador to the UN, said on Wednesday that Pyongyang “benefits significantly from receiving Russian military equipment, technology and experience, enhancing the country's ability to wage war against its neighbors.”

Western and South Korean intelligence agencies say 12,000 North Korean troops are stationed and fighting in Kursk, a Russian border region that Ukraine attacked in the summer of 2024.

Moscow has not discussed the presence of Pyongyang's troops on its territory, but Ukraine is increasingly trying to draw attention to North Korea's direct involvement in the war.

Recently, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy published images of what he claimed were two captured North Korean soldiers. He provided no evidence that they were North Koreans, although Seoul intelligence supported his claim.

“This was not an easy task: Russian troops and other North Korean military personnel commonly execute their wounded to erase any evidence of North Korea's involvement in the war against Ukraine,” Zelenskyy wrote. He has said about 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been wounded or killed.

Thousands of North Korean troops serve as a valuable source of manpower for Russia, which relies on massive infantry attacks along the front lines to undermine Ukrainian defenses.

Yet Pyongyang's reinforcements are still small compared to the more than 600,000 people that Ukraine and the West say Moscow has lost.

It is believed that Russia is providing Kim with much-needed finances, economic support, food and technology in exchange for his troops.

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