Videos are circulating online showing North Korean soldiers receiving new uniforms and combat equipment at a training ground in the Russian Far East. The footage apparently confirms reports from South Korean intelligence, according to which the DPRK had decided to reinforce the Russian army with 1,500 soldiers from its ranks. According to the American media, the gesture is supposed to be proof of ever stronger relations between Moscow and Pyongyang.
The footage seems to confirm Ukraine’s long-standing fears that North Korea will intervene significantly in an international conflict for the first time. | Video: Reuters
North Korea has been supporting Russia in its struggles in Ukraine for many months. Among other things, it is supposed to supply the country with artillery ammunition or anti-tank and ballistic missiles, which Moscow denies. However, the alliance between the two countries was to grow even stronger in recent weeks. According to CNN, thousands of North Korean soldiers are believed to have traveled to Russia, where they will now undergo training before being sent to the front line in Ukraine.
In a video shared by the Ukrainian government’s Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security, North Korean soldiers can be seen standing in a crowd of several meters, waiting to be assigned uniforms. They are believed to be communicating in Korean, although the quality of the recording makes it hard to understand.
Upon arrival in Russia, foreign recruits were to be asked to fill out a questionnaire, in which they were to indicate, among other things, their headgear, uniform and shoe size. In a copy of the questionnaire obtained by US CNN, the upper part of the document was described in Russian, while the size options were listed in Korean measurements.
The second video shows DPRK soldiers arriving at the Serhiivka training ground near the China-Russia border. In the footage, which American journalists managed to locate, a man speaking Russian can be heard in the background. “We can’t film them,” he claims on the recording at the beginning. “There are millions of them here. These are our new reinforcements. This is just the beginning,” he declares afterwards.
The video demonstrates the long-term fears of Kyiv and the entire West that North Korea is preparing to participate directly in the Russian-Ukrainian war. The president of the occupied country, Volodymyr Zelensky, repeatedly pointed out the increasingly strong alliance between Russia and North Korea. He said at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit this week that thousands of North Korean troops are heading to Russia. “According to the information I have, ten thousand DPRK fighters will travel to Ukraine. These are various soldiers, ground forces, technical personnel,” he said, adding that this was an urgent turning point in the war, which he had informed the United States about.
🇷🇺 z-publics have published a video showing North Korean soldiers training at a training ground in 🇷🇺
🔻CyberFlour reports that the video was filmed in Sergeevka, Primorsky Krai, 🇷🇺. The 127th Motorized Infantry Division of the Kutuzov Order is located there 230 km away from 🇰🇵 pic.twitter.com/ZtW4UvpPoq
— Toronto Television (@tvtoront) October 18, 2024
South Korean media previously reported that the DPRK was to send a total of 12,000 troops to Ukraine, although the exact number was not included in the statement by the national intelligence agency. Such a number of fighters would mean that the DPRK would intervene significantly in an international conflict for the first time.
Prominent figures in Western politics also warn that the deployment of North Korean soldiers in the fighting in Ukraine will have a key impact. The Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Mark Rutte, who spoke about the matter with South Korean President Jun Sok-yol, also commented on the situation on the X social network. “Sending North Korean troops to fight in Ukraine would bring about a major escalation of the war,” he said.
With 1.2 million soldiers, dictator Kim Jong Un’s country has one of the largest armies in the world. However, many of its men have no combat experience, CNN reminds.
According to ČTK, Seoul was supposed to summon the Russian ambassador to the country on Monday. Moscow has also said that its cooperation with the DPRK is not against South Korea’s interests. China has called for a reduction in tensions, Reuters reports.
Spotlight moment: Kharkiv is now a bomb test site for Russians, says war correspondent (full interview here)
Spotlight moment: Kharkiv is now an experimental bomb site for Russians, says war correspondent Darja Stomatová | Video: The Spotlight Team