The military contingent of the DPRK, numbering up to 12 000 servicemen, is undergoing training at five training grounds of the Eastern Military District of the Russian Armed Forces. They are trained by Russian military instructors from the Airborne Forces and special forces units.
This was reported by the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN Serhiy Kyslytsia at the UN Security Council meeting "Maintaining the Peace and Security of Ukraine".
The contingent includes at least 500 North Korean army officers, including three generals from the General Staff:
- Colonel General Kim Youngbok, Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Special Operations;
- Colonel General Lee Changho, Deputy Chief of the General Staff — Chief of the Intelligence Department;
- Major General Shin Geumchol, Chief of the Main Operational Directorate.
Russia plans to form at least five units or formations of 2 000 to 3 000 servicemen each from the North Korean military. Military personnel from the DPRK will wear Russian uniforms, use Russian small arms and receive Russian documents.
To hide the presence of foreign troops, North Koreans are integrated into Russian units staffed by representatives of ethnic minorities, in particular, into the "special Buryat battalion" of the 11th separate airborne assault brigade of the Airborne Forces of the Russian Armed Forces.
Serhiy Kyslytsia added that from October 23 to 28, at least seven military planes with a total number of up to 2 100 soldiers flew from the Eastern Military District to the Russian border with Ukraine. Their number is expected to rise to 4 500 by early November. And in November, they will begin to take direct part in military operations against the Armed Forces.
The Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN emphasized that such actions of Russia and North Korea violate international law, the UN Charter, and a number of UN Security Council resolutions.
"The active participation of North Korean troops in Russiaʼs aggressive war against Ukraine is very bad news for the world. This is the most dangerous development in the last period of the war in terms of its global consequences," he said.
And he noted that the North Korean military will return home from Russiaʼs war against Ukraine with exceptional experience in conducting modern warfare. And they can use it for the war in the Far East.
"And most surprisingly, even in the face of a military alliance between Russia and North Korea, there are still people who desperately want to believe that limiting Ukraineʼs ability to defend itself — now also against two nuclear powers — will somehow make those states more inclined to peace. Such a position is either infantile or cynical. Tying the hands of a defensive state can provide only a few years of peace at the expense of Ukraine, its people and infrastructure. And Ukraine will never agree to such a scenario," Kyslytsia summarized.
Participation of the North Korean military in the war against Ukraine
South Koreaʼs National Intelligence Service reported that North Korea has already sent 3,000 of its troops to Russia. In general, according to South Korean intelligence, 12 thousand soldiers will be sent to Russia. 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 to hide their participation in the war.
Soon after that, videos about the training of North Koreans at Russian training grounds began to appear on the Internet, and Babelʼs sources said that they were being trained in such cities as Khabarovsk, Ussuriysk, Blagoveshchensk, and 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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