Rice, space technologies and military salaries in dollars. Seoul told what Russia pays the DPRK

North Korea will receive from Russia 600 000-700 000 tons of rice, advanced space technologies, and its soldiers, who will fight alongside the Russians, will receive a salary of $2 000.

This was reported by South Korean intelligence, the Korea Herald reports.

According to intelligence, about 10 000 soldiers from the DPRK will join the war against Ukraine. At the same time, another 4 000 North Koreans work for Russia and receive an average of $800 per month.

The Institute for National Security Strategy, a think tank linked to Seoulʼs intelligence, believes that North Koreaʼs decision to send troops to Russia a few weeks before the US presidential election is based on the belief in the victory of the Republican candidate Donald Trump, who declared that the war in Ukraine would soon end in case of his coming to power.

The Instituteʼs report notes that North Korea will lose value to Russia if the war ends. Therefore, Pyongyang decided to strengthen military ties with the Russian Federation.

Military cooperation with Russia could give Pyongyang not only currency, food and technology, but also leverage over Moscow, should the DPRK need help in the event of an unforeseen situation on the Korean Peninsula.

"If war ever breaks out on the Korean peninsula, North Korea can now expect Russia to come and help," said Korean lawmaker Wi Songlak, who served as Seoulʼs ambassador to Russia.

The Institute for National Security Strategy also believes that North Korea and Russia have agreed to provide each other with military assistance if "one of them is attacked." During her visit to Moscow, the head of the Foreign Ministry of North Korea stated that the leader of the DPRK Kim Jong Un ordered to help the Russian army from the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine.

Participation of the North Korean military in the war against Ukraine

On October 24, the Ukrainian intelligence reported that the first soldiers from the KDPR had already arrived at the front — in the Kursk region. There are about 12 000 military personnel, including 500 officers and three generals.

South Korean intelligence reported that the first part of the military was transported by ships of the Russian Pacific Fleet to Vladivostok on October 8-13, they were given Russian uniforms, weapons and fake Russian passports. Babel sources said that they are being prepared in such cities as Khabarovsk, Ussuriysk, Blagoveshchensk, Vladivostok, and on the basis of the 11th separate airborne assault brigade of the Russian Federation, a "special Buryat battalion" is being formed, staffed by citizens of the DPRK.

The American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, citing a former Russian spy, wrote that the strategic partnership agreement between Russia and North Korea, which Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un signed in June, contains a secret clause. According to the agreement, the DPRK will be able to send approximately a thousand of its soldiers to Ukraine at first, and later more. The head of GUR Kyrylo Budanov says that in exchange for soldiers, North Korea receives money and nuclear technology from Russia.

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