North Koreans are fighting for Russia – real reinforcements?

There are said to be 11,000 North Korean soldiers stationed in Russia's Kursk region, including elite units. But are they really Russian reinforcements?

Simon Craven/t-online

A thick fog of war has hung over Russia's Kursk region for months but has rarely lifted. Ukrainian forces began an offensive in the region in early August, giving impetus to combat operations by Kiev forces that had previously been defensive only on the front lines. But reliable information from the region is rarely disclosed to the public. The fog mostly appeared impenetrable.

However, the Kursk Offensive caused an international diplomatic uproar. Now, there is one player more active in the war in Ukraine than before: North Korea. In the West and Ukraine, North Korea's dispatch of troops to Russia is seen as a further escalation of Russia's aggressive war. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said last week that cooperation between China, North Korea, Russia and Iran “is becoming increasingly threatening.”

North Korea's military is considered one of the largest in the world, with approximately 1.3 million active soldiers and 7.6 million reservists. The military makes up almost a third of the country's population. However, Kim Jong-un's troops have little combat experience. North Korean troops have never been involved in a war with soldiers on the ground since the 1950-1953 Korean War. So how can the regime's inexperienced military support Russia? Or will they even become a burden on Putin's troops?

There have been losses

It is understood that dictator Kim Jong-un has sent at least 10,000 troops to Russia since October. They initially trained for several weeks at a military training area in eastern Russia before being sent to Kursk. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, 11,000 North Korean soldiers are already stationed in Kursk. “Some of them have taken part in combat operations against Ukrainian forces. There have been losses,” he said last Thursday.

Military expert Gustav Gressel told t-online that North Korea's deployment has so far been difficult to assess. Gressel said the number of troops deployed was still too low, especially in Kursk. Ukraine rarely allows journalists and international observers to travel to Kursk, so much of the information leaked so far is difficult to verify.

Probably better trained and equipped than the Russians

Gressel also believes that North Korea's lack of experience is a problem from a Russian perspective. However, the Moscow army itself is often inexperienced: “The training of Russian mobilized soldiers and volunteers is often only 14 days, which is short and of poor quality,” experts said. Therefore, the difference between North Korean and Russian recruits should not be significant.

“I would even like North Korean soldiers to start at a higher level than Russian recruits,” Gressel said. “After the first attack, they were either dead or had combat experience.”

George Barrows of the Institute for War Studies (ISW), a US think tank, has taken a similar approach. The military analyst told the New York Times that North Korean soldiers were well organized. “The only thing they can do better than the Russians is cohesion and discipline,” Barros said.

8,000 Russian soldiers may have died in Kursk

The fact that North Korea may have sent some of its best troops to Russia speaks to high-level support. According to South Korea's intelligence agency, they included soldiers from the 11th Army of the North Korean Army's Special Forces. These soldiers are trained for front-line missions: their tasks include infiltrating enemy forces, sabotaging infrastructure and conducting targeted killings. But now they may become cannon fodder.

Russian soldiers deployed in training camps (file photo): Their equipment and training are often insufficient.Image: IMAGO/SNA

Last week, Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Alexander Silsky said Russia had lost nearly 8,000 troops in Kursk since the offensive began. In addition, more than 12,000 soldiers were injured in Ukraine and 717 were captured. Given that Russia has just begun a counteroffensive to retake the area, losses to Moscow's troops – and now to North Korean soldiers – are likely to continue to mount.

But Kremlin Chairman Vladimir Putin appears interested in ensuring that North Koreans don't just get burned in his war. In addition to uniforms, Kim Jong Un's soldiers in Russia are said to have received machine guns, sniper rifles, anti-tank missiles and grenades, according to Ukrainian sources. The United States also said in October that North Korea had received training in artillery, basic infantry tactics and trench clearing. Only a handful of Russian soldiers are equipped and trained on this scale.

According to the New York Times, soldiers may be divided into two groups during Russia's Kursk counteroffensive. One group plans to attack Ukraine as a shock force, and the other is responsible for protecting the recaptured areas.

Who is the conductor?

Another important aspect of North Korea operations is mission coordination. Gustav Gressel said Russian officers exercised command authority. “They coordinate the use of North Korean forces with other Russian forces and the use of weapon types such as drones, electronic warfare or artillery,” Gressel said.

However, it is known that dictator Kim Jong Un sent military officers to accompany him to Russia: “It can therefore be assumed that the North Korean infantry itself was commanded by these officers.” It is not yet certain at what level the transition from North Korean to Russian leadership will take place.

Gressel noted that the language barrier between North Koreans and Russians could cause problems, especially at the rank-and-file level. Such cases may have already occurred. According to a Russian soldier captured by the Ukrainians, the North Koreans have accidentally shot at the Russians.

“The Red Army has long been a role model for the North Korean army”

For officers, this is harder to assess: “The Red Army has long been the role model for the North Korean military,” Gressel explains. In the 1990s, at least intelligence services were likely to remain closely connected. Therefore, “a certain number of bilingual people” definitely exists.

Last but not least, North Korea’s deployment must be assessed in terms of its scope. The deployment of thousands of troops is already historic for a dictatorship. North Korea has already supported North Vietnam in the Vietnam War, the Egyptian military in the Yom Kippur War, and the Assad regime in the Syrian Civil War. However, these are always just individual experts. In 1973, approximately 1,500 pilots, military advisors and special forces were sent to Egypt.

Will Kim Jong Un send up to 100,000 troops?

The deployment in Russia is already unprecedented and is likely to continue to grow. Because Russia currently has problems mobilizing enough new troops. Moscow remains shy of a new wave of mobilization, relying mainly on financial incentives to recruit new volunteers. North Korea can close this gap.

ISW expert Barros called this an “alternative pipeline” for Russia in an interview with the New York Times. “It's probably not going to be a one-time deployment of 10,000 troops,” he said. “This will be an opportunity to recruit thousands of people on a regular basis, up to 15,000 people per month.” The Ukrainian secret service also assumes that a total of up to 100,000 troops can be sent to Russia.

If dictator Kim Jong Un does decide to send such large numbers of troops to Russia, his neighbor South Korea may also step in. So far, Seoul has stopped supplying weapons to Ukraine, but that could change: South Korean President Yun Seok-yeol no longer rules out supplying weapons directly to Kiev.

“Depending on the extent of North Korea's involvement, we will now gradually adjust our support strategy,” Seok Yeol said at a news conference in Seoul on Thursday. “This means we do not rule out the possibility of arms shipments.”

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