A North Korean soldier was taken prisoner by Ukrainian forces on Thursday December 26. He died from his injuries. What do we know about the presence of the North Koreans in the conflict in Ukraine? Guillaume Ancel, former French Army officer and author of Saint-Cyr, at the Grande Muette school (Édition Flammarion) was the guest of RTL to talk about it.
Ukrainian authorities announced that they had captured the first North Korean soldier in the Kursk region of Russia. South Korean intelligence revealed that this prisoner died a few hours later.
Throughout the fall, there has been much speculation about the North Korean presence alongside the Russian military. Now, we know much more because the first units were engaged in combat. The Pentagon spoke of 10,000 soldiers this fallbut it is necessarily difficult to verify in the field.
“No experience in modern combat”
“It's not the arrival of 10,000 North Korean soldiers that will change the war in Ukraine”, estimates Guillaume Ancel. “What was important for the Russians was that the North Koreans were known to be well trained”, he continues, however “it immediately appears thatthey have no experience in modern combat since they never fought.”
For the former French Army officer, “what is frightening is that Russians use North Korean soldiers as cannon fodder“, that is, they are “pushed forward to the front line to force the Ukrainians to show where they are.”
North Korea, fourth largest army in the worldwill it be able to continue to supply soldiers to Russia? “The country has enough to provide tens of thousands of men to the Russians,” says Guillaume Ancel. “What is important for the Russians is to try to limit the pressure on their own population,” he explains.
Currently, the North Koreans are “fighting in Russia, in the Kursk region.”
For Trump, “war is bad for business”
On Wednesday, in Kazakhstan, a passenger plane crashed, killing 38 people. Ukraine blames Russian air defense, and Russia blames Ukraine and its drones.
Who should we believe? “We have to stick to the facts. The plane was hit by a military charge. It was forced to cross the Caspian Sea and when it landed, the plane was so damaged that half of the travelers died.” , explains the former French Army officer. “This is a mistake by Russian air defense and it was probably when they feared the arrival of Ukrainian drones“, he continues.
Donald Trump will come to power on January 20. “He will stop the war in Ukraine and the Middle East around his inauguration. His team has already started negotiating with the Russians to outline a ceasefire agreement which strangely resembles that of South Korea,” says Guillaume Ancel.
For Trump, “war is bad for business.”
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