Heirs to Lee Geun? |
In early December, rumours resurfaced in the Russian tabloid press and “patriotic” Telegram channels about South Korean special forces fighting in Ukraine or South Korean mercenaries being recruited en masse on ROK territory.
A Recap of the Previous Episode
Last time, the “special forces” turned out to be a 40-year-old man named Lee Geun. The former Navy SEAL, who has turned into a YouTuber, arrived in Ukraine as a volunteer in March 2022 and returned home three months later with a knee injury sustained in combat. Later on, after a lengthy legal process in June 2023, he was sentenced to one and a half years on probation for illegally entering Ukraine in violation of the government’s travel ban to the country. As a result of another case, he was fined 5 million won ($4,000) for online insult and defamation.
The baton was then taken up by a certain Kim Mo, who gave an interview to SBS News on February 23, 2023, presenting himself as the “commander of the International Brigade of Ukraine’s Internal Defense Forces.” The 33-year-old Kim claimed to have worked for nine years at the Special Warfare Command and the National Intelligence Service before entering Ukraine at the end of October 2022 to “reimburse the aid South Korea received in the past.” After that, both he and the brigade he supposedly led vanished from the news.
Furthermore, during this particular period, several ethnic Koreans, but US citizens succumbed to the Special Military Operation, and ROK justice was prosecuting its citizens for illegal travel.
It is believed that........