This is support that will not go unnoticed. According to information from South Korean authorities, North Korea is preparing in the coming days to send its soldiers to the Ukrainian front to lend a hand to the Russian army.
These would essentially be “engineering troops” who will devote themselves to reconstruction and fortification work in the occupied territories of Donbass. Each of these soldiers would receive a monthly pay of 800 US dollars, which would constitute a considerable foreign exchange income for the regime in Pyongyang, reported the private South Korean television channel. Chosun TVciting a senior South Korean official.
But according to a military expert interviewed by the kyiv economic newspaper, RBK-Ukrainefor Moscow, the priority is not reconstruction. “It is not in this area that the Russian army needs reinforcements the most, but on the front line, for offensive operations,” warns Ivan Kirichevskyi.
Arms deliveries already in place
On June 19, Vladimir Putin made a state visit to North Korea to strengthen defense ties between the two countries in the context of the Russian military operation in Ukraine. If the sending of North Korean troops to Ukraine materializes, it would be the first implementation of the “joint assistance agreement in the event of military aggression” signed with great fanfare by Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un. during their meeting.
In other words, this agreement provides for mutual assistance in the event of an attack against one or other of the signatories and obliges the two countries to cooperate in the fields of defense and military technologies, as well as in the fields of economics and science.
In addition, Russia and North Korea are already suspected of collaborating. On Saturday, June 29, the United States and allied countries accused Pyongyang of violating arms control measures by selling, according to Washington, missiles to Russia used in the war in Ukraine. “We condemn in the strongest possible terms these illegal transfers, which have contributed significantly to Russia’s ability to wage its war against Ukraine,” said Robert Wood, the US deputy ambassador to the UN, ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on the issue. Jonah Leff of Conflict Armament Research (CAR), which tracks the use of weapons in wars, told the Security Council that he had found evidence of North Korean ballistic missiles being used in Ukraine.
Risk of “unleashing Russian combat power”
The information about the possible arrival of North Korean troops in the territories occupied by Russia is also taken very seriously by Ukraine’s allies, in particular the United States.
In its latest bulletin, dated June 26, the think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believes that support from the North Korean military could “free up Russian combat power for offensive operations along the front line.” “The North Korean military currently has ten engineering brigades and could deploy three or four of them into the field,” ISW further warns.
For its part, kyiv deplores a lack of international reactions. “Not only has North Korea discreetly freed itself from sanctions and actively engaged in military cooperation with the Russian Federation, but it is now sending special engineering troops to participate directly in the war against Ukraine on the side of the aggressor,” protested the spokesman for the Ukrainian presidency, Mikhail Podolyak, on his Telegram account. He added: “No one says anything.”
North Korean Ambassador to the UN Kim Song told the Security Council that there was “no cause for concern” and that the signed agreement was aimed at “promoting progress” in relations between the two countries. While Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he was “unaware” of the information.