Is North Korea Really Sending 100,000 Soldiers to Fight in Ukraine?
I do not see this many Soldiers being sent to fight in Ukraine by North Korea, but it appears that the Russian propaganda apparatus is trying to will this into existence:
Korotchenko does not cite the source for his claim, which he made in a Thursday, August 4 broadcast, and there does not appear to be any public announcement by Moscow or Pyongyang to support it.
While some Russian outlets have repeated his claims after they were picked up by national and international news outlets, the only earlier mention of such “offer” and the “100,000” figure appears on report by the Russian news agency REGNUM, which the EU has accused of spreading “aggressive and biased propagandist narratives against Ukraine, and to promote a positive attitude to the annexation of Crimea and the actions of separatists in Donbas.”
The article, dated August 2, cites a Russian MP, who referenced North Korea’s “offer” to help in a speech in the Duma.
Newsweek
You can read more at the link, but North Korea has not publicly commented on any of these claims. North Korea definitely has the manpower, but this could be a huge embarrassment for the Kim regime if the Soldiers do not perform well or even worse start defecting. The Russian army has already lost massive prestige by being smacked around by an inferior Ukrainian military.
Part of Kim Jong-un’s deterrence strategy is the prestige of having a massive military that provides a legitimate threat to South Korea. Losing in Ukraine and having a bunch of Soldiers defect takes away from that deterrence factor.
Like this?
“The Russian army has already lost massive prestige by being smacked around by an inferior Ukrainian military.”
It is unclear where this misconception comes from.
Perhaps it is because most people have a fantasy about what Russia is trying to accomplish and then smirk when Russia doesn’t accomplish what Russia is not trying to accomplish.
Russia has clearly stated their goals and they are clearly achieving them.
Let’s review what those goals are.
“Demilitarization and de-nazification of Ukraine.”
If getting Ukraine to surrender was the goal, Kiev would be a crater.
But the goal is bringing out the Ukrainian soldiers into the battlefield where superior Russian technology can identify and destroy them.
All indication is that this strategy is working at very high ratios… even though the fight is attempted to be evened up by western intelligence and equipment…
…but that works in Russia’s favor in the long run… as instead of surrender, Ukraine demilitarizes itself… not in equipment, but in fighters… as demonstrated by the shifting demographics of soldiers.
De-nazification might be one of Ukraine’s goals as well… since the nazis became an increasingly uncontrollable political force that was not favored by all Ukrainians.
When the Russians had the nazis trapped in the Azov steel plant, the Ukrainians… did… nothing.
And when the Russians imprisoned the nazis, Ukraine didn’t attack a lot of good military targets. They attacked the prison and killed a lot of nazis.
It is nice to see Ukraine and Russia working together to end them as a political force.
Though it is always sad to see fewer nazis… at least according the western liberals who somehow have been supporting actual swastika-tattooed old-school nazis in all this.
Nonetheless, there is no indication Russia is going to do anything other than what they say… kill the enemy soldiers and break their things until there are no more soldiers to operate the seemingly endless supply if things.
…though that supply might end when people start asking why Ukraine gets another billion in weapons, mostly sold on the black market, and Americans drive over that same pothole on the way to work every day.
How are they getting there? By boat?
Aren’t all Kim III’s boats busy smuggling pilopon?
The norks simply do not have the strategic lift (air, sea, land) nor overall TPFDD capabilities/infrastructure for such long distance power projection. Imagine the wheeled, armored, fixed-wing, rotary, and all other deployable resources needed to support such an operation.
Oh wait … they’re all vaccinated? That changes everything. In that case, they can definitely pull it off.
I would love to see the Parasite Army in action for the first time since the 1970s.
@Mcgeehee, the only way I see this working is if the Nork soldiers are simply used as infantry cannon fodder. As you mention there is no way North Korea could sustain any of their trucks, aircraft, or armored vehicles at that distance. They would be totally reliant on the Russians to transport and feed their troops. If they are used as cannon fodder they would not have to sustain them for very long. However if all they are is cannon fodder it then makes it more likely these troops would start defecting which would be a huge embarrassment for Kim.