North Korean troops face heavy losses in Russian conflict

The data on North Korean losses was released on December 19 by the South Korean National Intelligence Service. Meanwhile, three days earlier, Ukrainians published a video documenting the first losses of North Korean soldiers.

After several months of adaptation and training, North Korean soldiers found themselves on the front lines in the Kursk region in November. They began operations in the areas of the villages of Plechowo, Vorozhba, and Martinovka. Soldiers of the "Faust" unit of the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces released a video showing an attack on North Korean soldiers and its outcome. At least 33 of Kim Jong Un's soldiers were killed or wounded in the attack.

They turned out to be very easy targets. First and foremost, they could not manoeuvre in terrain dominated by image reconnaissance means. In most cases, they attacked in open fields, without any camouflage. In the snow, dressed in thick, dark green padded jackets, they were visible from afar.

Moreover, the uniforms, conceptually derived from the 1950s, made movement difficult, as they became extremely heavy when wet. This virtually made any free movement impossible. This was evident in the recordings. The Koreans moved slowly like golems. They were unable to escape kamikaze drones. Even attempts to shoot down the attacking drones were an impossible task. And this is not the only problem the new soldiers supporting Putin faced.

Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Centre for Countering Disinformation, noted during the weekly conference that the tactical actions involved gathering citizens of North Korea into groups and driving them to attack in a narrow strip from several directions simultaneously.

Additionally, the Russians do not assign allies support from combat vehicles and tanks. According to Kovalenko, they are even stingy with artillery fire support.

Kim's regime sent to Russia what it considers to be elite units. The clash between the real battlefield and the propaganda films for North Korean commanders is likely a significant cognitive shock. To such an extent that Russian and North Korean propaganda are trying to hide the losses.

Pyongyang claims everything is going according to plan, while the Russians strive to avoid news about the failures of the KPA's armed forces and do everything to talk about their "successful operations," concealing losses. There have even been cases of brutally disfiguring the faces of the deceased to make identification difficult. Ordinary Korean soldiers are paying a high price for the interests of the ruling leaders. And those are clear – they desire technology from the Kremlin.

In October, the Russian State Duma, the lower house of parliament, approved an agreement on strategic partnership with North Korea. This will allow the expansion of military cooperation between the two countries.

It elevates the cooperation between the regimes to a higher level. Among other things, it includes a provision that if one party is attacked and goes to war, the other must "provide immediate military assistance if either faces armed aggression." The agreement was tailored for the war in Ukraine.

According to Kremlin narratives, the Russian Federation was attacked by Ukrainians, allowing Kim to send not only weapons and ammunition to his ally but also soldiers. More than 10,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to the far eastern regions of the Federation for "training," and it is they who are now dying in the Kursk region.

The Moscow-Pyongyang agreement was merely a formal "confirmation" of what had been occurring in practice for months. According to South Korean intelligence, since 2023 North Korea has sent over 6,700 containers of artillery ammunition and ballistic missiles to Russia. Just last year, Pyongyang delivered about 76,200 155 mm calibre shells and about 38,100 122 mm calibre shells to its ally.

During the latest debate in the UN Security Council, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield revealed that with this year's deliveries, North Korea has transferred 6 million pieces of artillery ammunition and over 100 ballistic missiles to Russia.

Thomas-Greenfield also expressed concern over the possibility of Russia formally accepting North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

- Alarmingly, we assess that Russia may be close to accepting North Korea's nuclear weapons program, reversing Moscow's decadelong commitment to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula - stated the American.

Kim Jong Un, by helping Putin, is not doing so out of ideology. In return, Russia agreed to provide his regime with energy and food. However, this is not the dictator's main goal.

What he desires most are advanced technologies, including those that would support North Korea's satellite program and improve North Korean medium and long-range ballistic missiles. The North Korean arms industry is severely underdeveloped, partly due to international sanctions. Cooperation with Russia will allow it to develop.