NORK troops put their families at risk if captured

 Independent:

A former North Korean sergeant has said Pyongyang troops fighting in Ukraine were told their families would be executed if they are captured alive.

"If the soldiers are captured and tell information to the enemy, their families will be punished, go to a political prison camp, or worse, they will be executed in front of the people," North Korean defector and researcher, Pak Yusung, told ABC News.

Ryu Seong-hyeon, who defected to South Korea in 2019, said few North Korean soldiers had been captured as a result.

"Most soldiers will kill themselves before they're killed by the enemy, it's the biggest shame to be captured," Mr Seong-hyeon told ABC News. South Korean intelligence echoed this, claiming that North Korea ordered troops to kill themselves to avoid being captured alive.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent more than 11,000 soldiers to join Russian troops in November last year as Moscow’s casualties continue to mount.
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It is hard to see how this policy is good for morale.  It instills more fear into the fighters.  They fear their own officers and men more than they fear the enemy.