While reports of over 10,000 North Korean soldiers joining the Russian war effort have been coming since early October, they have finally begun fighting alongside Russian forces on the frontline in “significant numbers” and may have already liberated one Ukraine-occupied village in Kursk oblast.
On December 14, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the Russian army has started using soldiers from North Korea in assaults.
“Today, we already have preliminary data that the Russians have begun to use North Korean soldiers in their assaults — a significant number of them,” Zelensky said in a video address.
“The Russians are integrating them into combined units and using them in operations in the areas of the Kursk region.”
Zelensky also said that North Korean units have sustained “noticeable losses” and that Russian President Vladimir Putin has “dragged another state into this war.”
“Losses in this category are already noticeable. In essence, Moscow has dragged another state into this war, and it has done so to the maximum extent. If this is not escalation, what is the escalation many have been discussing? It is Putin who is taking steps that broaden and prolong this war. It is he who is pushing away the possibility of peace. And he wants the world to face more problems in Asia,” Zelenskyy emphasized.
Last week, Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense (HUR) warned that Russia plans to use North Korean soldiers in assaults in the Kursk region in significant numbers.
“It is likely that the leaders of the aggressor state will soon involve North Korean soldiers in direct assault operations. They received additional food supplies in recent days,” the HUR stated.
Furthermore, on December 13, the HUR warned that North Korean units were put on high alert and ordered to await further instructions.
In early October, it became known that thousands of soldiers from North Korea had arrived in Russia. They were sent to the Kursk region, where Ukraine has occupied a chunk of Russian territory since August.
North Korean Soldiers Taste Success In Kursk?
While Zelenskyy has confirmed the participation of North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk offensive, he did not offer many details on the outcome of their first assault.
However, military bloggers in Russia are reporting that North Korean soldiers have liberated a Ukraine-occupied village in Kursk oblast.
Russian military blogger Vladimir Romanov said on his Telegram channel that North Korean special forces took part in a battle in the village of Plekhovo in the Sudzhansky district of the Kursk region.
According to him, the DPRK special operations forces established control over the settlement in two hours, driving out units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“They passed through like a hurricane… The enemy lost more than 300 servicemen,” he claimed.
Military analyst Boris Rozhin also reported on the baptism of fire of the “North Korean comrades.” According to him, the event was so effective that the leader of the DPRK, Kim Jong-un, can be proud of his fellow citizens.
Before the assault, North Korean fighters covered two kilometers of minefields, military correspondent Yuri Kotenok reported. He also said that the whole operation lasted less than three hours. The war correspondent added that there were no prisoners.
Former Ukrainian lawmaker and pro-Russian separatist official in eastern Ukraine Oleg Tsarev confirmed this information. He only specified that the North Korean military does not call itself special forces but reconnaissance battalions. The politician added that the fighters are equipped only with light weapons.
The “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty” between North Korea and Russia was signed in June. However, the treaty came into force on December 4, with the exchange of “ratification instruments” in Moscow.
According to the document’s text, the treaty is indefinite and provides for mutual military assistance in the event of an attack on one of the parties.
“If there is a threat of armed aggression from other countries against one of the parties to the Treaty, consultations will be held to agree on possible measures of assistance… If Russia or the DPRK are subjected to an armed attack by one or more states, the parties will immediately provide military or other necessary assistance,” the document states.
Pyongyang: Moscow’s All-Weather Ally
Though the “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty” between North Korea and Russia was signed only in June 2024, military cooperation between the two states goes back more than seven decades, when Korea was a single, united country.
During the Second World War, Soviet troops invaded the Japanese colony of Korea in 1945 and liberated it following Tokyo’s defeat in the war.
After the Allies’ victory, the Korean peninsula was divided along the 38th parallel (the 38° N latitude), with the Soviet Union in charge of the northern part and the United States in charge of the south.
Though this was a temporary division, with the start of the Cold War between the two post-war superpowers, the USA and the Soviet Union, the divide only depended.
In 1948, Kim II Sung founded the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), also known as North Korea. From 1950 to 1953, the two Koreas fought a war in which the Soviet Union and China supported North Korea, and the USA supported South Korea.
In 1961, the DPRK and the Soviet Union signed a Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union was North Korea’s leading defense, trading, and economic partner and contributed heavily to Pyongyang’s industrial development.
Kim II Sung served as DPRK’s leader till his death in 1994. After Kim II Sung, his son, Kim Jong II (father of the current leader, Kim Jong Un), took over.
During the famines of the 1990s, Russia was North Korea’s leading supporter and supplier of humanitarian assistance.
The two countries maintained stable relations even after Pyongyang’s nuclear tests in 2006 and the Western sanctions that followed these tests.
Since the start of the Ukraine-Russia war in 2022, Western countries believe that Pyongyang has supported Moscow’s war effort by supplying military hardware like tanks, drones, and artillery shells.
In June, the two countries signed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty, taking their relationship to the next level. In October, the presence of North Korean soldiers in Russia was reported for the first time. Now, with Zelenskyy’s official announcement, it is clear that North Korean soldiers have also started taking part in actual combat on the frontline.
While North Korean soldiers have not seen combat in the last seven decades and do not have any substantial experience in joint military exercises, military analysts believe they are ‘well-trained’ and ‘highly motivated.’
Stanislav Bunyatov, a junior sergeant in the 24th Aidar Assault Battalion of Ukrainian Armed Forces, wrote on his Telegram that the North Korean soldiers are well-trained, motivated, and “cold-blooded,” with strong knowledge of Soviet-era weaponry. He also mentioned that these troops worry about the well-being of their comrades but lose morale when faced with significant casualties.
Bunyatov pointed out that Russian commanders, unaware of the actual combat capabilities of DPRK troops, are sending them into so-called meat assaults alongside Russian forces.
Bunyatov also explained why Russia might exaggerate the role of North Korean soldiers, as this might convince Kim Jong Un to send more North Korean soldiers to help the Russian war effort.
- Sumit Ahlawat has over a decade of experience in news media. He has worked with Press Trust of India, Times Now, Zee News, Economic Times, and Microsoft News. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Media and Modern History from The University of Sheffield, UK.
- He can be reached at ahlawat.sumit85 (at) gmail.com
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