North Korean troops dispatched to Russia are expected to be deployed to the battlefield as early as this week. While there are concerns that North Korea's elite special forces could gain combat experience, some believe that their lack of adaptation to the local environment and poor communication skills will prevent them from demonstrating significant combat power.

The National Intelligence Service revealed that North Korea began moving special forces personnel for deployment to Russia starting from the 8th and released related materials, including satellite images, on the 18th. The photo is a satellite image taken on the 16th of a military facility located in Ussuriysk, Primorsky Krai, Russia. Through satellite image analysis, the National Intelligence Service estimated that approximately 400 North Korean personnel were gathered in the parade ground shown in this image. Photo by National Intelligence Service

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According to foreign media, the North Korean ground forces dispatched for the first time are believed to have already arrived in Kursk Oblast, southwestern Russia. On the 28th (local time), the U.S. Department of Defense stated that North Korea had sent about 10,000 troops to Russia, and that some of them had already moved closer to Ukraine. This area, which Ukraine recaptured in a counteroffensive last August, borders northwestern Russia. This is the first time since the end of World War II that Russian territory has been invaded by outside forces, inflicting a significant blow to Vladimir Putin's pride. For Russia, this is a region that must be reclaimed at all costs, making fierce battles inevitable.

The Russian independent media outlet claiming to be "Astra" posted a video on its Telegram channel on the 22nd (local time) showing soldiers who appear to be North Korean standing outside a building. Astra described the video as "a scene of North Korean soldiers arriving at the base of Unit 44980 under the 127th Motorized Rifle Division of the Russian Ground Forces located in Sergeyevsky, Vladivostok."

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The official name of the North Korean unit dispatched here is the 11th Corps, also known as the Pokpung (Storm) Corps. The 11th Corps was formed by merging the 17th Reconnaissance Brigade's Unit 283 and Unit 124, both under the Ministry of People's Armed Forces Reconnaissance Bureau, in January and early October 1967. In addition, the 11th Corps depicted in the movie 'Shiri', to which actor Choi Min-sik's character belonged, joined in 1991. It is the core of the North Korean Army's special operations forces. The 11th Corps regularly appears in military parades held on Army Day. It was the first to appear at the large-scale parade commemorating the 75th anniversary of Army Day last February, exciting the North Korean people. The Ministry of National Defense also listed the 11th Corps as a representative special forces unit in its 2022 Defense White Paper.

This unit infiltrates both the front and rear areas of South Korea during wartime using various means such as tunnels, submarines, hovercraft, and AN-2 aircraft. Their main purpose is combined operations. Combined operations are tactics that disrupt the rear by attacking units and facilities or assassinating key figures. As Kim Young-bok, former commander of the Pokpung Corps and current Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army, is known to have traveled to Russia in person, it is expected that the role of the dispatched unit may expand further. They could be tasked with stabilizing Kursk, such as guarding nuclear power plants, or providing rear support.

The National Intelligence Service recently obtained photos of a suspected North Korean soldier believed to be active on the Russia-Ukraine front through cooperation with Ukrainian intelligence agencies, and on the 18th, they released related photos. The NIS stated, "Applying our AI facial recognition technology to the photos of the suspected North Korean soldier confirmed that this individual was a North Korean missile technician who accompanied Kim Jong Un during his visit to a tactical missile production factory last August." The photos show the North Korean soldier participating in the Ukraine war and the same individual as published in the North Korean Rodong Sinmun last August. Photo by National Intelligence Service

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However, some argue that the combat capabilities of the 11th Corps are exaggerated. This is because the region and terrain are different from North Korea. The Pokpung Corps has been trained to infiltrate the mountainous terrain of South Korea, focusing on assassination and infrastructure destruction. In contrast, the open fields stretching from Kursk to Ukraine are battlefields characterized by attritional warfare using trenches. This means the Pokpung Corps is not suited for combat on flat terrain.

Communication is also an issue. The North Korean military has virtually no experience in conducting joint training with Russian forces. If language or communication problems arise, command and control may not function smoothly. On the 25th, Ukrainian media outlet Kyiv Independent released intercepted conversations of Russian soldiers, revealing complaints about the assignment of one interpreter and three Russian officers for every 30 North Korean soldiers. Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik stated at the National Assembly Defense Committee audit on the 24th, "Although it is called a dispatch, in reality, they are just mercenaries used as cannon fodder," reflecting such assessments.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

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The North Korean soldiers are around 20 years old. They are part of the "Jangmadang Generation," who have experienced capitalism. If they are forced to fight their first war in a foreign land, facing the fear of death, they could be easily shaken. In fact, the Kursk region is an area where Russia and Ukraine have engaged in fierce battles, resulting in numerous casualties. With over 115,000 Russian soldiers killed and a total of about 615,000 casualties, if North Korean troops are deployed here, heavy losses are inevitable.

Kim Daeyoung, military research fellow at the Korea National Strategy Institute, said, "Although these are elite troops within the North Korean military, it will not be easy for them to demonstrate real combat effectiveness in the Ukraine war, where thousands of drones fly every day."

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A government delegation consisting of senior intelligence and military officials, including Hong Jangwon, First Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service, and Park Jinyoung, Director of Intelligence at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, plans to visit Ukraine to meet with local intelligence and defense officials, assess the situation, and discuss countermeasures. The delegation is expected to confirm specific information regarding the size and deployment of North Korean troops in Ukraine and discuss sending a monitoring team to Ukraine.

Some suggest that psychological warfare could be actively used instead of lethal weapons. Since many of these young soldiers are curious about the outside world and have been exposed to Korean dramas, they may harbor admiration for Korean society. If they realize the falsehood of the North Korean regime, they could be susceptible to psychological operations. If captured, North Korean soldiers could be persuaded to go to South Korea through interpreters, potentially leading to mass defections to the Ukrainian side or asylum during the chaos of battle.

A government official said, "Based on videos believed to have been filmed locally, it appears that North Korea has sent young soldiers. While there is the advantage of gaining combat experience, it remains uncertain how much they will actually be utilized on the battlefield."