Japan Institute for National Fundamentals

　
On November 20, about 500 North Korean troops, including a general, were killed in an attack by Ukrainian forces occupying part of the western Russian region of Kursk, according to informed sources. It is the first time that a North Korean general who participated in the Ukraine war has been confirmed dead. Used for the attack were Storm Shadow air-to-ground cruise missiles provided by Britain. North Korean casualties in this attack totaled about 2,000.

Major General Shin Geum Chul, one of three North Korean generals sent to the battlefield, was heavily injured by the missile attack on an underground North Korean military base in Kursk and died while being treated.

North Korea preparing to dispatch an additional 50,000 troops

As of November, about 12,000 North Korean troops were sent to Russia. More than 5,000 of them apparently have been killed or wounded. After suffering massive casualties, North Korea is preparing to send an additional 50,000 troops to Russia

Among North Korean troops sent to Russia are about 500 officers, including three generals: Kim Young Bok, deputy chief of the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army, Ri Chang Ho, deputy chief of the General Staff and director of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, and Major General Shin Geum Chul. General Kim, a former commander of the 11th Corps, a special force group called “Storm Corps,” is in charge of overseeing North Korean troops dispatched to Russia. The North Koreans wear in Russian military uniforms and are participating in the war under a Russian commander. A Russian company is accompanied by a North Korean platoon.

The attack on November 20 also injured a female interpreter or medic who accompanied Major General Shin. It is said that North Korean generals are often accompanied by pleasure girls posing as medics on the battlefield. Killed North Korean general’s body is to be taken to Pyongyang. The rest of dead North Korean soldiers are cremated locally before their remains are delivered to their families.

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun told the National Assembly's National Defense Committee on October 24 that it would be appropriate to assess North Korean troops in Russia as mercenaries. “When troops are dispatched overseas, they usually maintain their country’s chain of command and proudly conduct activities with their military uniform, insignia, and flag. North Korea is being disguised with a Russian uniform and acting under Russian military command without any operational authority. They are assessed to be mere cannon fodder mercenaries. [North Korean leader] Kim Jong Un has sold his People’s Army for an illegal war of aggression.”

Exchanging soldiers’ lives for sophisticated weapons

Russian forces are fighting to retake the Ukraine-occupied part of Kursk with an eye on the possibility of an early ceasefire after the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. North Korean troops have been used for the goal, resulting in many casualties. The relationship between Russia and North Korea is less of an alliance against a common enemy and more of a dry relationship in which North Korea receives money and military technology from Russia in exchange for weapons and troops.

Kim Jong Un is aware that a large number of casualties among his troops will upset North Korean society and risk troops’ desertions on the battlefield. During a few months before the dry Russia-North Korea relationship ends due to a ceasefire, he intends to dispatch troops as mercenaries to Russia, get most of the rewards for the dispatch, and urge Russian President Vladimir Putin to provide much-needed nuclear submarines, cutting-edge fighter jets, and other sophisticated weapons.

Tsutomu Nishioka is a senior fellow and a Planning Committee member at the Japan Institute for National Fundamentals and a specially appointed professor at Reitaku University. He covers South and North Koreas.