Korean People’s Army soldiers (KPA) cheer while watching fireworks at a Pyongyang mass celebration for scientists who were involved in North Korea‘s biggest nuclear blast to date, on Sep. 6, 2017. (Kim Won Jin / AFP).
Multiple reports, intelligence assessments and a video suggest that North Korean troops may soon be fighting alongside Kremlin-led forces.
Pyongyang, which has long provided weapons to Moscow, would be a significant change that would have raised alarms in capitals all over the world.
The latest development was on October 21, when South Korea summoned Georgy Zinoviev as the Russian ambassador to Seoul and demanded “an immediate withdrawal of North Korean forces and (to) cease relevant cooperation” with Pyongyang.
Washington has expressed “concern” over the reports, even though it has not confirmed the deployment. On October 18, U.S. Select Committee on Intelligence chairman Michael R. Turner appealed for President Joe Biden’s immediate response.
Moscow has not confirmed or denied any reports.
Interfax, the state-controlled media agency, reported that Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin’s spokesperson told the Russian press: “We see many contradictory reports.”
“The South Koreans claim one thing and the Pentagon claims that they do not have confirmation. There are many contradictory statements.” This is probably the best way to approach it.”
Despite Peskov’s vague statements there are plenty of signs that North Korean troops have already arrived in Russia to train to take part in the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine.
On October 15, a Western official told Kyiv Independent that 10,000 had been sent. Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov of Ukraine’s military intelligence service HUR put the number at 11, and said that they would be “ready to combat” by November 1. Online, a video purportedly showing the group at a Russian military training camp surfaced.
The Kyiv Independent interviewed five Ukrainian soldiers, some of whom requested anonymity for security reasons. They were asked what they thought of the possibility that North Korean troops could join the Russian army.
Myroslav Ha, an officer of the Ukrainian army
“We are not too concerned about the North Korean soldiers, because we see it as a sign of Russia’s problems.
“Russia has many problems in mobilizing its people.
“Many people die who decide to participate in this war. Other Russians don’t want this war for money. This is a very important signal.
“They’ll be very low quality troops; they won’t have any experience fighting in this conflict, so it won’t make much of a difference on the front lines.”
“If North Korea sends more troops, this is a problem again for them. They will have a language problem. We understand the difficulties because we have experience with foreign legion soldiers.
“We must work together with South Korea to solve this problem. We must create an official government program to convince soldiers to stop fighting. We can also propose that they return to South Korea instead of North Korea.
“Because a lot of people from North Korea are trying to flee the regime and go to South Korea. This would be an excellent program for them.”
Denys is a drone operator for the 79th Air Assault Brigade
“We are already at a war with one the strongest countries.” There is no need to worry.
“They shouldn’t be here, only death awaits here.” Let them go AWOL immediately. “This is not their war, and this is not their country.”
Vadym is a Ukrainian soldier who fights in Zaporizhzhia Oblast
“It depends on how many there are.” I’ve heard some have been caught already in Kursk Oblast. I don’t believe their quality is high. North Korea is stuck in the 1950s-60s.
“Of Course, this is bad, because the more there are, the worse they are. It means more work for us.
“We should influence the same way as everyone else by using psychological operations and leaflets. It’s not the cure-all but it is something, even if just one percent of them surrenders to us.
“On a larger scale, I don’t think they will have much of an impact on anything.”
Petro Kyzyk is a battalion leader at the National Guard
“We will kill anyone who occupies our land!”
Mykyta is a medic in the 67th Separate Mechanized Brigade
“Technically, Russia fights at the expense its allies. Chinese drones, Iranian rockets and Shaheds (drones), Chinese armoured cars, North Korean missiles, ammo… And now, soldiers.
“This is a ridiculous problem, that the’second-most powerful army in the World’ cannot defeat Ukraine. Ukraine is weak and the West is afraid to assist appropriately, so they are sitting on scraps.
“But this also speaks of another terrible problem. The’second-most powerful army in the World’ is not simply taking what resources they can from their allies. It is now fighting in a coalition format.
“The West provides little help and is slow to react to the growing magnitude of the mess. Recent statistics revealed that the average age for contract soldiers in Russia’s army is 50 years. Somewhere it was also stated that the wounded were sent to battle. I believe in the former, and would like to be able to believe in the latter. But there is no proof.
“Sign up bonuses for joining Russia’s army have increased dramatically this year. This indicates that they need to encourage people to join the military to avoid a mass mobilization.
“Many experts’ bets were in jeopardy, because many said that Russia would soon run dry. They have discovered another secret location worth millions of dollars to get meat. This is terrifying.
“With another 10,000 troops, Russia will at least not be slowed down and can at best receive a third the personnel needed every month. This is tangible.”
Asami Terajima, Daria Shulzhenko and Asami Terajima contributed to this report.
Chris York is the news editor of the Kyiv Independent. He was the head of news for the Kyiv Post before joining the team. He spent almost a decade in Britain working for HuffPost UK. He holds a MA in Conflict, Development, and Security, from the University of Leeds.
Read More @ kyivindependent.com