At least 100 North Korean soldiers were killed in December in Ukraine according to a South Korean lawmaker. In November, “Marianne” returned to the false elitism of this army corps sent to Russia to support Vladimir Putin’s army. But their lack of knowledge of modern warfare techniques propelled them more to the rank of potential victims than decisive reinforcements. Anatomy of a predicted massacre.
Some 10,000 soldiers had been sent by Kim Jong-un in recent weeks to support his Russian ally in his plan to conquer Ukrainian territory. At the beginning of December, a historic mutual defense treaty between Pyongyang and Moscow came into force. The latter provides for “immediate military aid” in the event of armed aggression by a third country. In return for its aid, North Korea would be able to train its troops in modern warfare technologies, training which until now had been sorely lacking.
Units that “can be sacrificed”
The unpreparedness of North Korean soldiers for new war technologies – particularly drones, massively used by Ukraine – got the better of around a hundred fighters after Ukrainian missile and drone attacks in recent weeks. Others also died during combat training sessions on Russian territory. The number of injured is around a thousand, according to a report from the National Intelligence Service (NIS) relayed by parliamentarians in Seoul (South Korea).
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According to the NIS, cited by MP Mr. Lee, the high number of victims can be explained by ” the unfamiliar battlefield environment, where North Korean forces are used as expendable frontline assault units, and their lack of ability to counter drone attacks ».
“More of a burden than an asset”
The North Korean troops’ lack of knowledge about drones is at the origin of ” complaints among the Russian army, for whom this help, is more of a burden than an asset » according to the MP.
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On Tuesday, December 17, Oleksandr Syrsky, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, declared that the Russian army was leading “ intense offensive operations in the Kursk region [aujourd’hui partiellement occupée par les forces ukrainiennes depuis une offensive d’août 2024], actively using units of the North Korean army », adding that it had already “ suffered heavy losses. »
The same day, the United States and its allies jointly denounced “ a dangerous enlargement » of the war in Ukraine in a press release and urged Kim Jong-un to repatriate his troops. “ We must not think that Washington and the various allied forces are going to let this happen, because clearly, it is an escalatory process. », Already affirmed the resigning French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, at the end of November. An escalation which is not without concern for South Korea, for whom this North Korean operation takes on the appearance of a “dress rehearsal” which revives the risk of invasion on the Korean peninsula.
Yesterday, however, a spokesperson for his Ministry of Foreign Affairs described it as “ irresponsible provocations » Washington’s criticism of Pyongyang’s support for Moscow. Until now, North Korea has never confirmed or denied the presence of its troops alongside Russia.
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However, it is difficult to imagine that Kim Jong-un would accede to Western demand, given the lucrative business that the war in Ukraine represents for him. In a previous article, Marianne recalled that the North Korean regime received both significant revenues from the sale of military equipment to Russia, in addition to receiving nearly 90% of the amount of its own soldiers’ income, paid by Russia. On a salary of $2,000, the real net income of North Korean fighters would be only $200.
