North Korean combat troops in Russia: a significant contribution? It has now been confirmed by a plethora of sources that North Korean combat troops are going to be struggle in Russia’s war against Ukraine. The nature of the mission these troops will carry out and the effects it will have, not only on the war but also on relations between North Korea and Russia, are extremely important.

So it’s important to know several things: when did this start, what the numbers are, which troops will fight for Russia, will this have a major impact on the war, and perhaps just as importantly, what will North Korea get? get out of this?

North Korea has of course been supply Russia has been bombarding artillery shells, ballistic missiles and small arms for almost two years now. The numbers are staggering and this has become a key aspect of the combat operations support the Russians require. But in 2022, when all this started, the North Koreans would have offered 100,000 soldiers to support the fight. While this offer may or may not have been exaggerated, Kim Jong-un has now decided to send at least this first contingent of troops to engage in combat in Ukraine.

According to the South Korean press citing the NIS (the South Korean equivalent of the CIA), the first contingent The number of troops is approximately 12,000 men. This consists of four brigades, of approximately 3,200 men each, subordinate to the North Korean 11th Corps, which some experienced analysts may remember as the “Infantry Training Guidance Office”. light”. The 11th Corps would have ten independent brigades attached to it, as well as light infantry brigades attached to each geographic and functional corps in North Korea. North Korea’s light infantry troops are among the the best trainedthe best fed and most motivated troops in the country.

At least part of the initial contingent, 1,500 men, left three North Korean ports aboard four transports and three frigates bound for Russia between October 8 and 13. It appears the troops will fight in Kursk and other parts of the war soon after their arrival. arrive in Russia.

The mission’s light infantry brigades are trained to include but not limited to, infiltrate beyond the forward edge of the battlefield, infiltrate and disrupt or destroy sensitive installations (especially airfields and POLs), infiltrate enemy defensive positions to conduct enveloping attacks or flank in support of regular ground forces, seize major defensive positions. lines of communication, infiltrating enemy defenses to seize and control important terrain features and civilian installations (such as dams, power plants and other critical infrastructure), to act as reconnaissance assets to support corps and divisions, and to act as rearguard and delaying force, during withdrawal operations, to harass the enemy by destroying bridges, tunnels, power networks, etc.

The question many are asking is this: will this deployment of North Korean troops in the war in Ukraine change the situation? Certainly, from a symbolic point of view, this is already the case.

Sending a country’s best troops to engage in combat with an ally is an approach that demonstrates solidarity, both in rhetoric and in action. As for the possibility of bringing real change to the war, two former U.S. government officials said in remarks to Radio Free Asia that it would not be a game-changer given the number of troops and the size of their weapons.

It’s true. However, I think it’s likely that the North Koreans will send more troops, so the real answer seems more nuanced. It could be a game-changer if more troops were sent to fight in the war. It is unknown whether this will happen or not.

It will also depend on how North Korean troops are deployed under Russian command. The initial contingent numbered 500 officers and included three generals among the 12,000 men. It is therefore possible that these troops retain the integrity of their unit, operating as battalions or even brigades attached to and supported by the Russian command.

Light infantry units have participated in combined arms exercises in North Korea, but how they would do if they did so in the war in Ukraine remains an unanswered question. In other words, deciding whether or not this will be a game changer is simply reckless. It is possible that this is the case, certainly, but it could also end up being simply a sign of support from one ally to another. When it comes to actions that could be considered “game-changing,” North Korea has already reportedly accounted for for half of the munitions used by Russia in combat operations against Ukraine over the past year.

How does this not change the situation?

It is obvious what Russia will get from this troop deployment. If the Russians choose to use these troops in the manner in which they have been trained, Moscow will now have more qualified special forces troops to bolster its elite forces. But Russian special forces faced real challenges in this war. And if the goal is to build those capabilities in a way that has a big impact, it would require deploying many more North Korean troops in the war. On the other hand, the Russians could choose not to use these troops as special forces at all, which would likely result in heavy losses for the North Koreans.

What do the North Koreans get from it?

For Kim Jong-un, the longer this war lasts, the better off North Korea is. North Korea has survived for many years, largely due to its military proliferation in the Middle East and Africa. But North Korea has never proliferated conventional weapons and missiles in such large numbers and in such a short time as it did in the war in Ukraine. This brings in money, oil, food, upgrades to technical and weapons systems, and support for North Korea’s large but largely outdated military.

For the Kim family regime, it must be understood that special operations forces are like artillery systems or ballistic missiles, a weapons system that can be multiplied for profit to benefit the regime. According to press reports, Russia pays $2,000 per month for each North Korean soldier. But this sum is paid to the North Korean government and not to the soldiers. So the more troops North Korea sends to fight the war in Ukraine, the more money it brings to the regime. Pyongyang has never benefited from a better deal.

About the author:

Bruce E. Bechtol, Jr. is an award-winning professor of political science at Angelo State University and a retired Marine. He served as an intelligence officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency from 1997 to 2003, before becoming a senior analyst for Northeast Asia in the Intelligence Directorate (J2) of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. He is the current president of the International Council on Korean Studies and serves on the board of directors of the Council for U.S.-Korea Security Studies. He is the author of the recent book North Korean Military Proliferation to the Middle East and Africa: Enabling Violence and Instability (University Press of Kentucky: 2018), North Korea and Regional Security in the Kim Jong-un Era: A New International Security Dilemma . (Palgrave Macmillan: 2014), The Final Days of Kim Jong-Il: The North Korean Threat in a Changing Era (University of Nebraska Press: 2013), Defiant Failed State: The North Korean Threat to International Security (Potomac Books: 2010), and Red Rogue: The Enduring Challenge from North Korea (Potomac Books: 2007).

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