Tag: North Korea

It looks like the Kim regime may be preparing more Soldiers for the meat grinder in Russia’s war agaisnt Ukraine:

North Korea may be accelerating plans to send more troops to replace frontline casualties incurred fighting Ukraine on behalf of Russia. Pyongyang plans to send Moscow an unspecified number of troops to replace those killed, wounded or imprisoned, according to a Friday report from South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The North Korean reinforcements are expected to arrive within two months, according to a New York Times report published Wednesday that cited an unnamed U.S. defense official.

Roughly 12,000 North Koreans may have deployed to Russia as early as October to fight in the nearly 2-year conflict, U.S. and Ukrainian authorities have said. Of those, around 3,000 were killed or wounded in fighting in Russia’s western front, South Korean lawmakers Lee Seong-kweun and Park Sun-won, citing a closed-door National Intelligence Service briefing, told reporters earlier this month.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

On the North Korean provocation scale, testing a cruise missile is pretty low:

North Korea on Sunday said it tested sea-to-surface strategic cruise-guided missiles, the previous day, in its first provocation since US President Donald Trump officially began his second term.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Missile Administration test-fired the missiles on Saturday, which flew 1,500 kilometers over their flight trajectories for 7,507 to 7,511 seconds before precisely hitting their targets, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea or DPRK is North Korea’s official name.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

This really is not surprising that the rank and file North Korean Soldiers did not know they were being sent to fight against Ukraine:

One of the two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukraine this month has claimed that he arrived in Russia without knowing whom he would be fighting, according to another video of his interrogation released by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Earlier this month, Zelenskyy disclosed that his forces had captured the North Korean soldiers in Russia’s western front-line region of Kursk, sharing videos of their interrogation on the social media platform X.

In the latest video posted on Monday (local time), one of the captured soldiers said he arrived in Russia aboard a ship with around 100 others before being transported inland by rail with them.

“Even after coming here, I didn’t know that I would be fighting the Ukrainian people,” the man said in the video in Korean. The video could not be independently verified.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Kim Jong-un decided to have an early fireworks show for the upcoming U.S. Presidential innauguration. It will be interesting to see if Kim decides to fire something next week as well:

North Korea fired several suspected short-range ballistic missiles off its eastern coast Tuesday morning in its second day of testing so far this year, according to the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The missiles were launched around 9:30 a.m. from Chagang province, roughly 140 miles north of Pyongyang, and flew approximately 155 miles before splashing into the Sea of Japan, or East Sea, the Joint Chiefs said in a text message to news agencies. South Korea and the United States had been monitoring the North’s preparations for Tuesday’s launch and “immediately” began tracking the missiles, according to the Joint Chiefs.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Here is what South Korean intelligence is saying is the estimated casualty numbers for North Korean troops fighting in Russia against Ukraine:

National Intelligence Service chief Cho Tae-yong (C) attends a plenary session of the intelligence committee at the National Assembly in Seoul on Jan. 13, 2025. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

At least 300 North Korean soldiers dispatched to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine have been killed, with some 2,700 others injured, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers Monday.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) shared the information with lawmakers during a closed-door meeting by the parliamentary intelligence committee, according to Rep. Lee Seong-kweun of the ruling People Power Party.

The NIS said it attributed the “massive casualties” of North Korean soldiers to their “lack of understanding of modern warfare,” including their “useless” act of shooting at long-range drones, based on the agency’s analysis of a combat video it obtained recently.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

There is really nothing I don’t agree with in Jake Sullivan’s statement:

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Friday portrayed impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol’s botched martial law bid as “shocking” and “wrong,” but voiced confidence that “structurally,” the South Korea-U.S. alliance is “incredibly healthy.”

Speaking in a press meeting, he also noted that the Biden administration was not able to make “substantial” progress in the efforts toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula with the security trend moving in the “wrong” direction, but stressed America and its allies are in a “materially better” position to deter North Korean threats.

He also expressed concerns over the “risk” of North Korea using the ongoing political turmoil in South Korea to engage in provocative activities, but underscored that Pyongyang “should make no mistake” given the strength of the bilateral alliance.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I wonder how many of these North Korean Soldiers realized they were going to war when they left their country for Russia?:

One of the two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukraine has claimed during questioning that he thought he was going for training, not to the war against Ukraine, Kyiv’s security service has said.

On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine has captured two wounded North Korean soldiers in Russia’s western Kursk region and that investigators were questioning them.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said it has questioned the two soldiers through Korean interpreters in cooperation with South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) as they do not speak Ukrainian, Russian or English

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I wish they would not show these guys faces because this is going to lead to retaliation against their family members back in North Korea for them being captured alive.

Here is an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal about North Korean forces fighting Ukraine in Russia:

The crude stick-figure diagram, sketched in blue ink, details how North Korean soldiers deployed to support Russia in the Ukraine war should respond to the approach of a Ukrainian drone. One soldier—referred to as “bait” in the drawing—should stand still to lure the drone so that a pair of comrades can attempt to shoot it down.

The grisly tactics were divulged in a diary taken off a slain North Korean soldier on Dec. 21, with passages containing mundane details of life at the front, descriptions of combat tactics and expressions of love for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to excerpts recently made public by Ukraine’s special-operations forces. Independent experts say the diary entries appear genuine, with penmanship, word choice and expressions of ideological fervor all common in North Korea. 

The young soldier who penned the passage about the drone died in a firefight alongside two other compatriots, according to Ukraine’s special forces. 

“Even at the cost of my life, I will carry out the Supreme Commander’s orders without hesitation,” reads one entry from the diary. “I will show the world the bravery and sacrifice of Kim Jong Un’s special forces.”

(Wall Street Journal)

You can read more at the link, but Ukraine intelligence services are stating there has been up to 4,000 North Korean casualties. They are also reporting that North Korea may be preparing a second deployment of Soldiers to assist Russia. What I found most interesting from the article is that Ukraine has lost half the land they seized in Russia which shows that despite the heavy losses the North Koreans may be having an impact on the battlefield.