North Korea alongside its Russian ally. Pyongyang plans to intensify its military aid to Moscow, according to information from South Korea. “There are signs that [la Corée du Nord] is moving towards the manufacture and supply of suicide drones”announced Monday, December 23, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCS in English), according to the South Korean agency Yonhap. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un “preparing to rotate or increase troop deployment [en Russie]while currently providing rocket launchers and artillery” in Moscow, the JCS added.
These additional troops must be added to the approximately 10,000 North Korean soldiers already sent to Russia – information confirmed at the end of October by Ukraine and its Western allies. Where are these fighters deployed? What are their combat methods? How many of them have already fallen on the battlefield? Franceinfo looks back at what we know about the men from Pyongyang involved in the war between Moscow and kyiv.
More than 3,000 North Korean soldiers killed or injured in fighting
From their deployment on the Ukrainian front at the end of Octobermore than 3,000 North Korean soldiers were killed or injured during the fighting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Monday in a statement published on Telegram. Earlier in the day, the South Korean general staff had identified 1,100 North Korean fighters hit on the front. On December 16, Ukrainian special forces already announced on X killing 50 Pyongyang soldiers and wounding 47 others.
While the Kremlin and Kim Jong-un have never officially recognized the presence of these troops on Russian soil, the Pentagon estimated that there were around 10,000 North Korean soldiers in Russia during a press conference, end of October. At the same time, kyiv called on any North Korean soldier sent by Moscow to its territory to surrender, according to AFP. “We saw these North Korean soldiers move from the second line of the battlefield to the first line of the battlefield, supposedly actively engaged in combat operations”said John Kirby, a White House spokesperson, in mid-December.
“It is not surprising that North Korean soldiers are suffering losses on the battlefield today.”
John Kirby, White House spokesmanduring a press briefing
According to South Korean intelligence, Pyongyang, which owns the fourth largest army in the worldis currently preparing to send new military contingents to Russia. This new military aid seems to be part of a mutual defense treaty between Pyongyang and Moscow, which entered into force at the beginning of December.
Troops mobilized in the Kursk region
At the beginning of November, the Ukrainian president denounced the sending of North Korean soldiers to the Russian region of Kursk, where Moscow has intensified its operations in the face of the Ukrainian counter-offensive launched in August. Volodymyr Zelensky assured in a speech in mid-December that the Kremlin had “began using significant numbers of North Korean troops in assaults”.
The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Oleksandr Syrsky, also declared in mid-December that the Russian army was leading “intense offensive operations in the Kursk region, actively using units of the North Korean army.” In detail, they are mobilized “as part of combined units of marines and airborne troops”specified the Ukrainian intelligence services (GUR) on Telegram. For now, they are “only there”, clarified the Ukrainian head of state before continuing: “But we have information to suggest they could be deployed to other parts of the front line.”
Men holding identity cards provided by Russia
Russian first names, surnames, places of birth… North Korean soldiers received false papers when they arrived at the front, thus concealing their real identity, according to kyiv. Ukrainian special forces announced on Telegram on Sunday that they had seized these documents from three North Korean soldiers killed during fighting in the Kursk region.
These military papers “do not include a stamp or photo. The patronymic names are given in the Russian manner and the place of birth is signed as the Republic of Tuva”a Russian region in southern Siberia, near Mongolia, the army specifies. Only the signatures on these documents are in North Korean.
“This case once again confirms that Russia uses all means to hide its losses on the battlefield, as well as the foreign presence”concludes the army. Volodymyr Zelensky accuses Russia of trying to cover up North Korea's involvement in the conflict, including by trying to “literally burning the faces of dead North Korean soldiers”, he wrote on Telegram.
“During their training, they were even forbidden to show their faces. The Russian army tried to erase any video evidence of their presence.”
Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukrainian Presidenton Telegram
The GUR explained on Telegram that Moscow had set up “a special counter-espionage regime”. “For admission to areas where North Korean units are located, Russian soldiers and officers are checked by FSB agents, phones and other devices are seized”they clarified.
Soldiers from the “Storm Corps”, not used to modern wars
According to South Korean intelligence, these fighters are part of the “Storm Corps”, an elite unit of North Korea's special forces, reports the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). They are mainly used “in an infantry role” – military unit that fights on foot – said Patrick Ryder, a White House spokesperson, during a press briefing. “Russia has long used infantry for its elite forces in frontal assaultsexplains Christina Harward, analyst at ISW, at Telegraph. “Russia is unlikely to deploy North Korean forces differently.”
Furthermore, Lee Woong-gil, a former member of the “Storm Corps” who took refuge in South Korea, assured the Washington Post that these soldiers were not “not trained with the best technology or advanced equipment.” “If they are deployed on the battlefield, where the Ukrainians are using advanced technologies, drones and missiles, they will never have had this experience before.”he adds.
“The language barrier remains a difficult obstacle to management and coordination of actions.”
Ukrainian intelligence serviceson Telegram
From there to talking about cannon fodder? North Korean troops “are changing the game, because they are using different tactics than Ukrainians are used to”judges on the contrary Pasi Paroinen, analyst at the Black Bird Group, a collective using public information sources based in Finland, in The Kyiv Independent. For Lee Hyun-seung, a former special forces instructor in North Korea, these fighters “will get used to the battlefield.” “They will learn to fight the enemy and find ways to survive“, he told the BBC.