SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Thousands of young people North Korea has sent soldiers to RussiaSaid to be helping to fight against Ukraine are mostly elite special forces, but that doesn’t stop speculation that they will be massacred because they have no combat experience, are unfamiliar with the terrain and could be dropped on the most brutal. Battlegrounds.
And that may be true, soon. Observers say troops are already on the front lines. However, from a North Korean perspective, these soldiers may not be as pathetic as outsiders think. In fact, former North Korean soldiers say they may view the Russian trip with pride and a rare chance to earn good money, see a foreign country for the first time and get the treatment their families prefer.
“They are too young and don’t really understand what it means. They will consider it an honor to be chosen among many North Korean soldiers to go to Russia,” said Lee Woong-gil, a former member of the Storm Corps, the same special forces unit. He arrived in South Korea in 2007. But I think most of them will not return home alive.”
Concerns about North Korea can participate in this The Russian-Ukraine war was highlighted this week by the Pentagon saying that North Korea has sent about 10,000 troops to Russia and that they will fight against Ukraine “in the next few weeks.” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Monday that some North Korean military units are already in Russia’s Kursk border region, where Russia is fighting an incursion into Ukraine.
NATO confirmed on Monday that North Korean troops had been sent to Russia to help in its nearly three-year war against Ukraine, with some already stationed in Russia’s Kursk border region, where Russia has been fighting to push back a Ukrainian incursion.
North Korean military build-up It may mark a serious escalation of the nearly three-year-old war. This caught many outside observers by surprise, as North Korea has its own security headaches that have put it at odds with the United States and South Korea. Its nuclear program.
Major North Korean troop casualties would be a major political blow to the country’s 40-year-old ruler. Kim Jong Un. But experts say Kim may see it as a way to get much-needed foreign currency and security support from Russia in return for joining Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“Kim Jong Un is taking a huge gamble. If there were no major casualties, he would get somewhat of what he wanted. But things will change a lot if many of his soldiers die in battle,” said Ahn Chan-il, a former North Korean army first lieutenant who is now head of the World Institute for North Korean Studies in Seoul.
The Storm Corps, also known as the 11th Corps, is one of Kim’s top divisions. Its main missions are to infiltrate agents into South Korea, blow up critical facilities in the South, and assassinate key figures in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula.
Lee, who served in the Storm Force from 1998-2003, recalls that his unit received better food and supplies than other units, but many members still suffered from malnutrition and tuberculosis.
albeit gradually Economic recovery Over the past 30 years in North Korea, the average monthly wage of ordinary North Korean workers and soldiers has been less than $1, defectors say. They say the country’s state rationing system is largely broken and many are resorting to capitalist market activities to make ends meet.
Russia is expected to cover all costs associated with the deployment of North Korean troops, including their wages, which observers estimate will be at least $2,000 per month for each person. 90% to 95% of their stipends go to Kim’s coffers and the rest goes to the players. This means that a year of service in Russia will earn a North Korean soldier between $1,200 and $2,400. That’s enough to make many young players volunteer for the perilous Russian tours, say former players.
Ahn said North Korea would offer other concessions to raise soldiers’ social status, such as membership in the ruling Workers’ Party and the right to visit Pyongyang, the country’s showcase capital. Kang Mi-jin, a separatist who runs a firm that analyzes North Korea’s economy, said even family members of soldiers sent to Russia could be offered benefits such as good housing or entry to good universities.
Choi Jung-hoon, a former first lieutenant in North Korea’s military, said serving on foreign soil attracts many soldiers who are eager to see other countries for the first time.
North Koreans are restricted from accessing foreign media and need government approval to move from one province to another within the country. North Korean construction, logging and other workers sent overseas to bring in foreign currency are often called upon “slaves” by international human rights groups. But defectors testify that such foreign jobs are often better than staying in North Korea, and that many use bribes and family connections to get them.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see North Korean soldiers go to Russia,” Ahn said.
Ahn and other observers say such perceptions may change if soldiers see co-workers die in large numbers. They say many North Korean soldiers may ask Ukrainian forces to surrender Resettlement in South Korea.
North Korean soldiers have trained in the mountainous terrain of the Korean Peninsula and are not familiar with the mostly flat battlefields of the Russo-Ukraine war. Because North Korea hasn’t been involved in a major war since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, experts say they don’t understand modern warfare methods, including the use of drones.
“My heart ached,” said Choi, now head of an activist group in Seoul, when he saw one Ukraine video It is said to show fewer North Korean soldiers believed to be in their late teens or early 20s.
“Nobody thinks they’re going to Russia to die,” Choi said. “But I think they’re cannon fodder because they’re sent to very dangerous places and will certainly be killed.”
Leader Kim Jong Un hopes the offer of his forces will prompt Russia to share advanced and highly sensitive technology. Nuclear Capable Missiles. That transfer depends on how long the war lasts and how many more troops Kim sends.
Nam Chung-wook, a former director of a think tank run by South Korea’s spy agency, said North Korea could receive hundreds of millions of dollars in veterans’ wages. Soldiers will gain first-hand experience in modern warfare, but die in high numbers, and Russia is reluctant to hand over its high-tech missile technology, he said.
“North Korea will continue to hide its troop deployments from its own people because the public will be outraged to know that their soldiers are being sent overseas to be killed,” said Nam, now a professor at Korea University in South Korea.
