Sending North Korean troops to Russia confirms alliance between Pyongyang and Moscow

(Seoul) North Korea’s decision to deploy thousands of soldiers on the Ukrainian front seals the recent military alliance with Moscow which could upset the security balance on the Korean peninsula.

About 1,500 North Korean special forces soldiers are already stationed in Russia for acclimatization training and are expected to go to the front soon, the South Korean spy agency said Friday.

Thousands more soldiers are expected to leave for Russia soon.

This first and unprecedented deployment shows that the military agreement signed in June between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which includes a mutual defense clause, is “solid” according to Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Reunification.

“(The agreement) establishes a structure in which intervention or military support from Russia will be automatic if North Korea is attacked or if it faces a crisis,” he told AFP.

Reinforcing troops from Pyongyang could help Moscow maintain “occupied territories or contribute to other territorial gains,” he added.

North and South Korea remain technically at war, the very deadly conflict from 1950 to 1953 having resulted in an armistice and not a peace treaty. But while Kim Jong-un has built a nuclear arsenal, Seoul does not have atomic weapons.

The South is placed under the American nuclear umbrella, and Seoul and Washington regularly conduct large-scale joint military exercises, which revolts Pyongyang.

By sending troops to Russia, Kim Jong-un hopes to strengthen military deterrence and consolidate an alliance with Moscow closer to the defense agreements between the United States and South Korea, which could “result in a significant change” in the security on the peninsula, Mr. Hong said.

“Attract international attention”

Ukrainian authorities released a video Friday allegedly showing North Korean soldiers and claimed it was taken at a training camp. The footage shows Asian soldiers collecting their equipment.

One of the soldiers is filmed saying “push over” to his colleagues in a North Korean accent.

South Korea’s intelligence agency told AFP it would be “inappropriate” for them to comment on a document published by the government of a third state.

But experts say the deployment will allow North Korean soldiers to gain combat experience in a modern conflict and test weapons on the battlefield.

It could also be an attempt by Kim Jong-un to strengthen his position on the international stage and his negotiating margins before the US elections next month, said Lee Sang-min, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Economic Analysis. defense, to the AFP.

“A way to attract international attention […] is to send troops to support the war in Ukraine, which could prolong the conflict or tip it in favor of Russia,” he continued.

War economy

For Russia, the benefits of the North Korean deployment are clear, predicts Vladimir Tikhonov, professor of Korean studies at the University of Oslo.

“Russia’s main bottleneck is the shortage of military manpower and manpower at all, and North Korea offers considerable and unexplored potential to address both problems,” he said. -he declared to AFP.

Relations between the two Koreas are at their lowest point in years. While last week, Kim Jong-un announced that the North had abandoned “the unreasonable idea of ​​reunification”, Pyongyang could also use Ukraine to reorient its foreign policy.

By sending troops, North Korea positions itself within the Russian war economy as a supplier of weapons, military support and manpower, while potentially bypassing its traditional ally, Beijing.

“This means that Pyongyang will not be motivated to improve its relations with Japan, South Korea and the United States,” Professor Tikhonov said.

“This means a permanent state of tension on the Korean Peninsula.”