Dictator Kim Jong-un is reportedly sending thousands of North Korean soldiers to dictator Vladimir Putin. They face massive challenges in the war in Ukraine. An analysis.
Moscow – Is it really predictable? Peace in the war in Ukraine? Not with Vladimir Putin, German military expert Carlo Masala of Bundeswehr University in Munich believes.
Kim Jong-un backs Vladimir Putin: North Korea sends troops to Russia
There are plenty of signs that the Kremlin autocrat is not bloody and imperial enough. Moscow’s ruler Putin called on Russians to have more children. Also: Russian weapons production for Putin’s military is in full swing.
Now there is further evidence for this theory: Putin’s ally, North Korea, is sending thousands of soldiers to fight alongside armed forces from Russia. This is a new dimension in the war in Ukraine, as a third country directly participates in the fighting with its own troops. This was reported by the Kyiv government and a leading American newspaper Washington Post (WP).
North Korean Soldiers for Russia: Sooner Battleground in Ukraine War?
die WP Several thousand North Korean soldiers have arrived in the Russian Federation, according to news reports on Saturday. There they are preparing for missions in Ukraine, which is now under attack, the report continued. Media from the US capital cited an unspecified source from the Ukrainian military intelligence HUR. They also announced that the North Koreans are expected in early 2025 on Ukrainian battlefields between Kharkiv, Donbass and Zaporizhia.
“We see the alliance between Russia and regimes like North Korea strengthening,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address over the weekend, adding: “It’s not just about changing weapons, it’s about changing people. The Pyongyang regime has over the past 32 months attacked Ukraine in violation of international law, including artillery shells. It has backed its Russian ally with weapons.Will the North Koreans soon fight the Russians against the Ukrainians?
Kim Jong-un’s North Korea Soldiers: Quick Adaptation to the Russian Army?
Kim Jong-un’s players will bring two advantages around a friendly Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to the Moscow circle. On the one hand, like the Russian armed forces, the Korean People’s Army (KVA) has sometimes very outdated military equipment of Soviet manufacture. Examples include the BTR-80 wheeled tank and the BM-21 “Grad” multiple rocket launcher. Soldiers are not required to have specialized training in weapons systems and vehicles.
Another military advantage: North Korea’s soldiers are constantly on active duty, partly because of their animosity toward neighboring South Korea, and they’re not actually in civilian employment; This is already difficult in a dictatorship with a dynastic base and a one-party system. This means soldiers are constantly drilled, they train very regularly, and military routines dictate their entire daily lives.
| Officer: | Democratic People’s Republic of Korea |
| Residents: | 26.1 million (UN estimate) |
| Capital: | Pyongyang |
| Area: | 120.538 km² |
| Limitations: | South Korea, China, Russia |
Ukraine war: How do North Korean soldiers and the Russian military want to interact?
In addition to life and limb, risks are also included. On the one hand, many North Korean soldiers are unlikely to speak Russian. Although they were still organized as independent units, they had to coordinate with the Russians in battles. For example, if they need artillery support. Or if the target is too narrow. It’s not entirely clear how the Russian military plans to resolve, or at least avoid, the language barrier.
Also: If North Koreans are indeed sent to battlefields, they will have to fight far from home. In particular: Crow is more than 6,900 kilometers from the North Korean border to the current Donbas front near Pokrovsk. How to explain why a young man is really going to fight a bloody war? (evening)
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