South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun said at a parliamentary event on Tuesday that he believes it is “very likely” that communist North Korea has sent soldiers to fight Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as numerous He said it was likely that there were “casualties”.
Mr. Kim was speaking at an audit session. Korea JoongAng Ilbo reported They met on Tuesday to assess how close military ties between Moscow and North Korea have become.
“Considering various circumstances, we judge that there is a high possibility that North Korean soldiers will suffer casualties in Ukraine,'' Kim said. said.
Kim also claimed that it was “very likely” that North Korean troops would invade Ukraine because “Russia and North Korea have a mutual treaty similar to a military alliance.”
North Korea, one of the world's most repressive states, has invested heavily in strengthening ties with Russia over the past year. Communist dictator Kim Jong-un made a rare overseas visit to eastern Russia in September 2023, meeting with strongman Vladimir Putin and announcing plans to take action, including a fleet of kamikaze drones, that could violate sanctions. showered with gifts. Putin returned the favor in June, visiting Pyongyang for the first time since 2000. It was during this visit that Putin and Kim signed a “mutual agreement” highlighted by South Korea's defense minister on Tuesday.
The mutual defense agreement, which both North Korea and Russia appear to have agreed to, includes some element of a commitment by both countries to take military action if one of them is attacked. North Korea previously boasted of having struck a similar deal with the defunct Soviet Union, but until this summer had yet to achieve a similar deal with modern-day Russia.
The military agreement caused international alarm, as the two countries are already deeply embroiled in military conflict. North Korea has been effectively at war with South Korea since 1950, but the 1953 armistice halted most belligerent activities throughout the demilitarized zone (DMZ). Meanwhile, Russia began invading and colonizing neighboring Ukraine in 2014, seizing control of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.
In 2022, President Putin denounced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as a “Nazi” and announced plans to oust the pro-Russian president despite Zelenskiy's victory in free and fair elections in 2019. He announced a “special operation” and escalated the violence. Viktor Yanukovych annulled Zelenskiy's presidency in 2014. Zelenskiy was not in politics at the time and was working as a professional comedian.
The “special operation” turned into an all-out war, which took a dramatic turn in September when Ukrainian forces launched a counter-invasion and occupied Russian territory on the border. The development further fueled speculation that Putin could use the mutual defense pact to force Kim to send North Korean troops into battle with Ukrainian forces.
North Korea enthusiastically supports Russia's invasion of Ukraine but denies participation in the conflict.
In October, Ukraine Kyiv Post Office reportedSix North Koreans fighting on Russia's behalf were killed and three others injured in a Ukrainian military attack on Russian military positions in Ukraine's warring Donbas region, an unnamed “informed source” said. I told him that I did.
“According to reports on Russian social media, prior to the missile attack, the Russians were demonstrating to North Korean representatives the training of personnel for offensive actions and defense,” it said. post It was reported at the time.
Neither North Korea nor Russia has confirmed any such casualties. In June, shortly after the signing of the Mutual Defense Treaty, rumors began to surface that North Korea was planning to send engineers to help Russia. Referring to rumors at the time, Putin said: “As for the possibility of somehow using each other's capabilities in this conflict.” Well, we don't have to because we haven't asked anyone for this and no one is offering it to us. ”
Ukraine has not provided hard evidence that North Korea is fighting a Russian invasion, but the reality contradicts Putin's assertion that Russia “doesn't need aid.” Nationals of at least two countries, India and Cuba, have been confirmed to be on the front lines supporting the invasion of Ukraine, and all appear to have gotten there by responding to fraudulent job advertisements.
In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi faced a national scandal over the summer. The families of several young Indian men have accused their sons of being tricked into taking jobs in what appeared to be the private sector in the Middle East. As soon as they boarded the plane, they were diverted to Ukraine, where they were used as cannon fodder. At least four Indian men have died fighting for Russia in Ukraine.
Cubans on the ground in Ukraine appear to have arrived there primarily through similar deceptive means. Earlier this year, the Ukrainian military said it had captured Frank Dario Jarosei Manfuga, a Cuban national who was fighting in the turbulent Donbas region. After Kiev granted Mr. Manfuga an interview, the Cuban, who described himself as a math teacher and musician, was driven by poverty and desperation to escape Cuba to post a Facebook job ad for construction work in Eastern Europe. He said he applied for the. The “construction” work ended up fighting the Ukrainians.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) predicted in September that Russia would increasingly need to rely on its partners, particularly North Korea, to extend its invasion.
“The deepening military partnership between Russia and North Korea symbolizes Russia's aim to build relationships with Iran and China.” [China]and other preferred partners”, ISW observed. “Russia faces a decline in its arms and equipment stockpiles unless it can avoid major Western sanctions and significantly expand its engagement with foreign partners to obtain sufficient munitions, components and munitions. It is likely that they will struggle to make up for the shortfall.
