North Korean troops in Russia: what can Pyongyang’s move mean, implications for Ukraine war

Rutte said the North Korean deployment represented “a significant escalation” of Pyongyang’s involvement in “Russia’s illegal war” in Ukraine, a breach of UN Security Council resolutions and a “dangerous expansion” of the war. Rutte said the deployment of North Korean troops was a sign of “growing desperation” on the part of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

North Korean soldiers in Kursk

The Kursk region is a Russian border area where Ukrainian forces staged a major incursion in August this year and presently hold hundreds of square kilometres of territory, marking the first time Ukraine had gained control of Russian territory.

Military experts say that Kursk creates a buffer zone between Ukraine and Russia, making its military control important for both Kyiv and Moscow.

Support extended to Russia by North Korea, in the form of soldiers or in any other form, should not come as a surprise. North Korea’s strong ties with Russia can be traced back to the days of the erstwhile Soviet Union, during the Cold War and the Korean War.

Russia-North Korea ties

In 1945, Soviet troops invaded the Japanese colony of Korea, which was followed by liberation of the Korean Peninsula from Japanese occupation. By agreement with the US, the 38th parallel was used to divide the peninsula, with the Soviet Union in charge of the north and the United States in charge of the south. During the Korean War between 1950-1953, the Soviet Union and China backed North Korea, including militarily.

During the Cold War, the 1961 DPRK-Soviet Union Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance became an important marker of cooperation and friendship between the two countries.

What the West and Ukraine’s allies say

Following an absence of an official “end” to the Korean War, technically, North Korea and South Korea have remained hostile and at war since 1953, although the fighting has stopped. Over the Ukraine involvement issue, South Korea’s President Yoon has expressed concern about the security of his own country. According to a Reuters report, Yoon told Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that a major security concern for South Korea would be the possibility of North Korea gleaning military experience and knowledge from its involvement in Russia’s war.

There is a consensus among experts that it is unclear and perhaps too early to understand what role North Korean troops may play in the war between Russia and Ukraine. In the big picture, 10,000 troops may not be a significantly large number of soldiers on the ground. However, according to a Reuters report, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank said the number of North Korean forces involved “make this more than a symbolic effort”.

It may also be a way to show support for Russia and to emphasise to the larger diplomatic community that North Korea and Russia are not just fair-weather friends but have deeper, lasting ties.

What is clear is that the involvement of North Korean troops has riled the United States and its allies, and perhaps at some level, that was the intent.

The Kremlin had earlier dismissed reports about a North Korean troop deployment as “fake news”. According to a Reuters report, Putin has not denied the presence of North Korean troops in Russia, but said it was Russia’s business how it implements a partnership treaty that Moscow had signed with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un in June. A North Korean representative to the United Nations in New York called the reports “groundless rumours”

South Korea’s stance

Reuters quoted the South Korean Presidential office of Yoon Suk Yeol saying the pace of North Korean troop deployment to Russia had been faster than expected, creating a dangerous situation.

On Tuesday, South Korea’s spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, briefed the country’s lawmakers saying that the armed forces in Russia were trying to teach military terminology to North Korean soldiers. On Wednesday, South Korea’s presidential office said it is considering sending a team of military monitors to Ukraine to observe and analyse the expected deployment of North Korean troops.

However, from North Korea’s perspective, there are several angles to why it may have stepped in to support Russia. There has been some discussion about how adequately trained North Korean soldiers may be to take on fighting in any capacity in a war like the one that has been ongoing for some three years between Ukraine and Russia.

While significant casualties in war may be received negatively or reflect poorly on the country, some North Korea analysts believe that the wages soldiers in Russia get could be one way of injecting much-needed foreign currency for Pyongyang. North Korea may also get more security support from Russia in exchange.