DPRK - World War III.2 - Troops to Donbas
President Volodymyr Zelensky said in evening addresses on October 14 and 15, 2024, that the DPRK entered the war. The DPRK "actually joined" the war, said Zelensky, on the side of Russia and transferred soldiers to its army. This is confirmed by South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyung and Ukrainian intelligence officers.
North Korea could deploy up to 100,000 troops to support Russia in the Ukraine war, should the alliance of the two states deepen. On 19 November 2024, President Zelenskyy told the European Parliament that Putin is using DPRK troops in the war in Ukraine. According to him, "Putin is bringing in soldiers from North Korea, and this number could rise to 100,000 Putin is focused on winning this war, he will not stop on his own". Increased military support is quite realistic, and on this scale it can be provided by groups of troops rotating over time, rather than as part of a single deployment. Bloomberg notes that Ukraine's ambassador to South Korea made a similar assessment.
In June 2024, Russia and the DPRK signed an agreement on a "comprehensive strategic partnership". Some media write that the DPRK can send up to 100 000 volunteer fighters to Ukraine. According to State Duma deputy Sergei Mironov on 02 August 2022, North Korea had made it clear through diplomatic channels that it is ready to help the LPR and DPR in strengthening their defense (the country is ready to transfer up to 100,000 of its soldiers to Donbass). Russian propagandist Ihor Korotchenko first declared this on 04 August 2022 on the "Russia 1" channel, without mentioning the source of the information. He also said that the North Koreans would rebuild the occupied cities. Others making the claim cited various articles, including one by a conspiracy theorist website Zero Hedge.
The New York Times reported 23 January 2025, quoting a senior US defense official, that within the next two months, North Korea was expected to send more troops to aid Russian forces in the western region of Kursk, where Ukrainians have taken territory in a cross-border attack. The Times said that last fall, North Korea sent about 11,000 soldiers to the Kursk region. They are there to assist Russia in its fierce battle to retake the territory captured by Ukraine.
The media said that about one-third of those North Korean soldiers have since been killed or wounded, according to Ukrainian and American officials. The Times quoted a Ukrainian drone commander as saying that North Korean soldiers initially did not have combat experience but they are now "gaining it, and they are becoming very strong." The media went on to say that according to one senior US defense official, North Korean reinforcements in the region are expected "within the next two months."
BBC also reported, quoting several Western officials, that out of the estimated 11,000 troops sent from North Korea, around 1,000 are believed to have been killed by mid-January.
Russia’s daily casualty [KIA + WIA +MIA] rate of 1,200 troops suggests North Korean military support may offer only temporary relief to manpower shortages. The West has shown “zero” reaction to the alleged movement of North Korean troops into Russia, which means that Pyongyang may send as many as 100,000 troops to fight Kiev, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky claimed 31 October 2024. Zelensky said in an interview with South Korean national broadcaster KBS “Whether it would be 3,000, 10,000 or 100,000 depends directly on the reaction,” he said. “If the reaction is weak, there will be more of them.”
"We can see now every site where Russia is accumulating these North Korean soldiers on its territory - all their camps. We could strike preemptively if we had this opportunity - to strike at a sufficiently long range. And this depends on our partners. But instead of such a necessary long range, America is watching, Britain is watching, Germany is watching. Everyone is just waiting for the North Korean military to start striking Ukrainians," the Ukrainian leader said. Ukraine could launch a preemptive strike on the camps where Russia has concentrated North Korean soldiers, but the West is simply watching as they, too, kill Ukrainians.
The first North Korean troops will soon arrive in Russia's Kursk region, where they will assist the Russian army, said Kirill Budanov, head of the Main Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. According to Budanov, the first North Korean troops are expected to arrive in the Kursk region on 23 October 2024. They will help to protect the Kursk region from the Ukrainian Armed Forces. "We expect the first units tomorrow in the Kursk direction," Budanov told The War Zone on 21 October 2024. He noted that it is unknown how many of them there will be and how they will be equipped. "We'll see in a couple of days," he added.
The DPRK will "stand firmly next to the Russian comrades" and "has no doubt in the victory" of the Russian army - the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Korea Choi Son Hee at a meeting with Sergey Lavrov. Also, according to the North Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs, from the first days of the SVO, Comrade Kim Jong-un gave the order to " constantly and powerfully" help the Russian army in their "holy war".
South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun said 30 October 2024 via a translator that there is a “high possibility” North Korea will ask Russia for advanced technology relating to nuclear weapons, intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear submarine and satellites in exchange for their deployment of troops to help with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The UK Ministry of Defence’s intelligence community indicated that North Korean troops engaged in combat against Ukraine would face compatibility issues with Russian forces and challenges operating equipment. The British Ministry of Defence references earlier reports suggesting that around 10,000 North Korean soldiers are already in Russia, with some “almost certainly” stationed in the Kursk region. “Russian and Korean forces will almost certainly encounter interoperability difficulties if they have not previously conducted joint military exercises,” the report stated.
Additionally, North Korean troops will “almost certainly” struggle with operating Russian equipment, integrating into the Russian command and control structure, and overcoming language barriers with Russian forces. Estonian intelligence also noted that the involvement of North Korean units on the Ukrainian front is unlikely to significantly impact the situation and that they are likely to suffer heavy losses.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) stated that the North Korean troops have organized into four brigades, each of about 2,600 troops. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said "We have information about the preparation of two units of North Korean military personnel — potentially two brigades of around 6,000 soldiers each. This is a challenge, but we know how to respond to it. What’s important is that our partners don’t turn a blind eye to it."
Some Western experts were skeptical about the performance of North Korean troops in combat, citing their outdated military equipment and limited battlefield experience. North Korea reportedly sent a much smaller contingent to the Vietnam War and to the civil conflict in Syria.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it had been working with Ukrainian intelligence service and had used facial recognition artificial intelligence technology to identify North Korean officers in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region supporting Russian forces firing North Korean missiles.
Additionally, reports suggest North Korean fighter pilots may have been deployed to Russia to operate combat aircraft, potentially addressing Russia’s pilot shortages. As reported, the involvement of North Korean troops by Russia in the war against Ukraine will lead to a serious escalation and will also indicate the great difficulties that the Kremlin is facing, said newly appointed French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, who arrived in Kyiv. Sources in the GUR reported 18 North Korean servicemen had already fled from their positions on the border of Ukraine with the Bryansk and Kursk regions of the Russian Federation.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said 23 October 2024 that the U.S. government has evidence North Korea has sent military forces to Russia, but he told reporters that the purpose of their deployment was not yet clear. Austin said “now we are seeing evidence” that there are North Korean troops in Russia. “What exactly they’re doing is left to be seen,” Austin said. “But yes, there is evidence that there are DPRK troops in Russia,” he added.
Russia will pay North Korean troops about US$2,000 per month each, South Korea’s spy agency said on 23 October 2024. The salary paid by Moscow would represent an enormous increase. Last month, RFA Korean reported that the average salary for military personnel had increased 10-fold from between 100 and 300 won (.6 cents to 1.8 cents) to between 1,000 and 3,000 won (6 cents to 18 cents). The Ukrainian government-run news platform United24 reported that it was likely that most of the money would "remain with the state." North Korea typically keeps most of the salaries paid to the workers it dispatches overseas, but it was not immediately clear how much of the $2,000 each soldier would actually receive.
The agency said Russian instructors were impressed by the North Koreans’ good physical shape and morale but added they lacked an understanding of modern warfare, including the use of attack drones, and were expected to suffer heavy casualties when they reached the front lines. The NIS said that it also detected signs of large-scale recruitment of Korean interpreters by the Russian military. There were also reports that North Korean authorities were screening the deployed soldiers’ families back in the North to ensure “effective information control and management,” said the spy agency.
NATO chief Mark Rutte said 17 October 2024 the alliance could not yet confirm South Korean intelligence’s report, but it is in “close contact” with its partners. “At this moment, our official position is that we cannot confirm reports that North Koreans are actively now as soldiers engaged in the war effort," Rutte told reporters following a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels. “But this, of course, might change,” he said.
On 18 October 2024, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) reported that North Korea had begun deploying special forces to Russia on Oct. 8, and released supporting data, including satellite images. The images show a Russian vessel in operation on the 12th, transporting North Korean troops. A South Korean-operated satellite captured an image of a Russian vessel transporting North Korean troops at Cheongjin Port on Oct. 12. The satellite, equipped with synthetic aperture radar (SAR), provided clear imagery, allowing for round-the-clock surveillance in all weather conditions. North Korean special forces were reportedly spotted boarding Russian ships, with transportation movements captured by a South Korean-operated satellite on 12 October 2024. These troops were moved from areas near the North Korean cities of Chongjin, Hamhung and Musudan to Russia’s Vladivostok, said the NIS, adding that a second phase of transport is expected to occur soon.
Airbus optical images showed North Korean personnel gathered within the training ground of Russia's Khabarovsk military facility and Russia's Ussuriysk military facility on Oct. 16, 2024. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) released a statement on the 18th, providing three satellite images as evidence confirming the “initial stage of North Korea’s direct involvement” in the war in Ukraine. Among the images, those of military facilities in Ussuriysk and Khabarovsk, Russia, were sourced from “Airbus,” a private satellite provider, though no source was named for the images showing North Korean troops being transported on Russian ships.
Washington warned 21 October 2024 that North Korea sending troops to support Russia in Ukraine would be a dangerous development, following reports from Seoul. US ambassador Robert Wood told the UN this deepens the DPRK-Russia military ties, and consultations with allies are underway regarding the implications of this move. "We have seen reports the DPRK has sent forces and is preparing to send additional soldiers to Ukraine to fight alongside Russia," Robert Wood, US ambassador to the United Nations, told the Security Council. "If true, this marks a dangerous and highly concerning development and an obvious deepening of the DPRK-Russia military relationship," Wood said. "We are consulting with our allies and partners on the implications of such a dramatic move," he added.
Some intially thought the story about the preparation of the military of the DPRK was a story about an attempt in the future to send Koreans to guard the border of the Russian Federation as reinforcements for the border guards and individual conscripts, because the FSB, to which the border guards and conscripts are subordinate, are not capable of fighting well. Conditionally, Putin wanted Kim's Koreans to be captured if anything.
A few observers suggested the question of using North Korean "volunteers" on the Ukrainian front is not worth it - during the years of the Korean War there was a million-strong army of Chinese volunteers and a squadron of Soviet pilots who fought with the Americans. Yes, the DPRK has one of the largest and strongest armies in the world, but it will not fight in foreign lands. Pyongyang needs an army and a nuclear missile shield to ensure its own security - and the "guerrilla state" (as the DPRK used to be called) pays a heavy price for this. Including almost complete international isolation - not so much by choice, but as a result of the most severe international sanctions imposed through the UN Security Council.
Speculation about North Korea’s alleged move to directly enter the Ukraine conflict originated in a report by South Korean broadcaster TV Chosun 21 June 2024, which cited an anonymous ROK government official’s claim that Pyongyang plans to dispatch military engineers to aid construction efforts in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region. Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said 25 June 2024 "that's certainly something to keep an eye on. I think that if I were North Korean military personnel management, I would be questioning my choices on sending my forces to be cannon fodder in an illegal war against Ukraine. " But Shreyas Reddy of NK News wrote "While Russia and DPRK are boosting military ties, reports that Pyongyang said it will send troops within month are false".
North Korean soldiers are supporting ground operations of Russian troops in Ukraine, and by the end of 2024, thousands of North Korean soldiers who are currently undergoing training in the Russian Federation may be sent to the front line. The Washington Post wrote about this with reference to South Korean and Ukrainian officials. A representative of Ukrainian military intelligence said on condition of anonymity that several thousand North Korean infantry soldiers are currently undergoing training in Russia and may be sent to the front line in Ukraine by the end of this year. He added that North Korean officers are already in the occupied territories of Ukraine to monitor Russian troops and study the battlefield, but Kyiv has yet to see any North Korean units engaged in combat.
A Ukrainian military intelligence officer noted that it is unclear where combat units trained in Russia will be stationed on the Ukrainian front. According to him, Moscow can use them in the border regions of the Russian Federation, freeing Russian troops to participate in battles in Ukraine. "This can have a significant impact. Especially if we are talking about the release of reserves on the territory of the Russian Federation itself," said the intelligence officer.
Some South Korean experts say this is a possible scenario. The Kremlin denies the participation of North Korean soldiers in the war against Ukraine. Reports that North Korean soldiers are supporting the Russians in the Russian-occupied territories of Donbas appeared in Telegram channels and in the Ukrainian press last week. It comes after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian leader Vladimir Putin signed a mutual defense agreement in June, in which Kim pledged "full" support for Putin in his fight against Ukraine. Then, for the first time, the Russian Federation turned to the DPRK for military support.
The United States says that North Korea has sent a large amount of munitions, including artillery shells, to Russia. Both North Korea and Russia deny the allegations. Now, by all accounts, Pyongyang is sending in the military. South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun called reports that North Korean troops are helping the Russians "highly likely," adding that Seoul expects North Korea to send more troops to support Russia's military effort. Ukraine says Pyongyang has sent troops to monitor the use of North Korean munitions and ballistic missiles, some of which were shot down in the line of fire.
There had never been talk of direct military participation in the North Korean army's SVO. In this case, a possible option could be not sending North Korean soldiers to Ukraine, but opening up the possibility for DPRK citizens to sign a contract with the Russian Armed Forces and motivating them in every possible way by the authorities of their native country. Considering the far from highest standard of living there and good pay for a contract in Russia.
On October 15, barely a week after the first North Korean soldiers are believed to have arrived in Russia, Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne reported that hundreds of North Korean troops had already been deployed close to the front in Russia’s Kursk and Bryansk regions, some seven kilometres from Ukraine’s border. Among them,18 of them had already deserted their positions, it said, citing Ukrainian intelligence sources. It turned out that the North Korean soldiers, assigned to the Buryats by the Ukrainian media , already managed to escape from their positions (where they haven't even arrived yet). Follow-up reports in Ukrainian media suggested the troops abandoned their postings after being left in a forest area without food or instructions from their Russian counterparts. They were later found and detained by Russian forces.
Earlier, the same publication wrote that the inclusion of soldiers from North Korea in the Russian Armed Forces and their dispatch to the Kursk region was only planned. It must have been decided in a couple of hours, until the editorial office received a new "insider tip from the GUR". Thus, the entire epic with the dispatch of soldiers from the DPRK to Ukraine, then their inclusion in the 11th separate guards airborne assault brigade and subsequent escape from their positions took place in less than a day.
South Korea believed the North has sent troops to Russia to support its war in Ukraine. The National Intelligence Service said 18 October 2024 an initial contingent of 1,500 special forces soldiers had already been deployed to Russia's Vladivostok. The spy agency said it had "detected from the 8th to the 13th, North Korea transported its special forces to Russia via a Russian Navy transport ship, confirming the start of North Korea's military participation."
The country's spy agency reported that North Korean soldiers had been given Russian uniforms, weapons, and forged IDs. They are accommodated at military bases in Vladivostok, Ussuriysk, Khabarovsk, and Blagoveshchensk and will likely be deployed after training. The agency released satellite images showing Russian navy movements near a North Korean port and suspected North Korean gatherings in Ussuriysk and Khabarovsk.
Yonhap news agency reported that Seoul's spy agency said the North had "recently decided to send four brigades of 12,000 soldiers, including special forces, to the war in Ukraine." The North Korean special forces, numbering 200 thousand personnel, has 12 light infantry brigades, three reconnaissance units, three airborne divisions and three sniper units.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol held an unscheduled security meeting with key intelligence, military, and national security officials. Yoon's office said the North has gone "beyond the transfer of military supplies to actual troop deployments." It poses "a significant security threat not only to our country but also to the international community."
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described the claims as "another piece of fake news" during a news conference last week, according to Russian media. Ukraine, however, says that some North Korean officers are already on the ground in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine. "From our intelligence we've got information that North Korea sent tactical personnel and officers to Ukraine," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters at the NATO headquarters on 17 October 2024. "They are preparing on their land 10,000 soldiers," he added.
The officials said the soldiers were transferred from three locations, including a point near the northeastern city of Chongjin, from October 8 to 13, using Russian Navy transportation ships. They revealed satellite imagery showing what appears to be at least one Russian ship near Chongjin Port to transport soldiers. They also said they believe the soldiers will be separated into groups to undergo training by the Russian military in Vladivostok, Khabarovsk and elsewhere, and that they will then be deployed to the battle front in Ukraine. They claimed that the soldiers have been provided with Russian military uniforms and arms, and that fake certificates have been issued to disguise them as people from Russia's ethnic minorities. The officials added that a second dispatch is set be carried out soon.
Hugh Griffiths, a UN sanctions specialist and former coordinator of the UN Panel of Experts on North Korea, said that the harsh realities of war, and the difficulty in keeping these troops isolated from the Russian soldiers are bound to have “profound implications on their worldview”. “North Korea has one of the largest armies in the world, millions are technically under arms, but it’s not a good army, it relies on mass, and none of the soldiers have been battlefield-tested,” he said, noting that Kim’s propaganda that North Korea is “invincible” will be the first bubble to burst, and impact morale. “The Ukrainians are going to bomb them, and you’re going to see North Korean defeat. That’s not something you see in North Korea: them dying, them not making any progress, them not getting to Kyiv on the back of Russian tanks. It’s not going to go well for them.”
On 28 April 2025, North Korea officially acknowledged the role its troops played in the war in Ukraine and specifically in operations in the Kursk region of Russia as the " Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea highly appreciated the combat sub-units of the armed forces of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for performing heroic feats in the operations to repulse and annihilate the grave sovereignty infringement by the Ukrainian authorities, who invaded the territory of the Russian Federation, and completely liberate the occupied area of Kursk Region."
According to the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea's release, "the sub-units of our armed forces, which participated in the operations for liberating the Kursk areas according to the order of the head of state of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, fully demonstrated their high fighting spirit and military temperament and made an important contribution to annihilating the Ukrainian neo-Nazi forces and liberating the territory of the Russian Federation by displaying mass heroism, matchless bravery and self-sacrificing spirit."
The fraternal aid to Russian has been the provided "on the basis of the analysis and judgment that the prevailing situation was conformed to the invocation of Article 4 of the treaty on comprehensive strategic partnership concluded between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation, Comrade Kim Jong Un decided our armed forces' participation in the war, informed the Russian side of it and, in accordance with the agreement, issued an order of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea to combat sub-units of the armed forces of the Republic to annihilate and wipe out the Ukrainian neo-Nazi occupiers and liberate the Kursk area in cooperation with the Russian armed forces."
On 28 April 2025, the Kremlin also acknowledged the participation of North Korean troops in military operations in the Kursk region with the statement that "units of the Korean People's Army played an active role in the fight that brought the defeat of the neo-Nazi formations of the Kiev regime that invaded our territory, in full compliance with international law and in accordance with the letter and spirit of the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the Russian Federation and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea of June 19, 2024 - in particular, Article 4 of the Treaty, which requires each of the parties to provide immediate military assistance in the event of an armed attack against the other."
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