The White House’s disclosure during a briefing late last year that around 1,000 North Korean soldiers deployed to Russia had been killed or wounded shocked the international community. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service likewise determined that around 10,000 North Korean troops had been sent to the front line in Russia’s Kursk region, and approximately 1,000 had been killed or wounded. Concerns that the North Korean troops sent to the Russia-Ukraine war would become cannon fodder seem to be becoming a reality.
Videos and photos appearing on Ukrainian military social media accounts are even more shocking. Experts note scenes of North Korean soldiers coming under drone attack as they cross snow-covered fields and images of dead soldiers with their faces destroyed. They say such footage demonstrates how North Korean soldiers — deployed to the front with little experience in actual combat — are dying in vain, along with North Korean-style barbarity that habitually engages in inhumane behavior in the name of “security.”
In particular, Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces released the diary of a dead North Korean soldier, with many experts noting the North Korean government’s contempt for human life. Given how the soldier talked of his “ingratitude” and “chance for redemption,” it appears the North Korean authorities sent him to the danger zone after promising to pardon him or reduce his prison sentence.
Daily NK asked a senior military official inside North Korea about the government’s view of the casualties in Russia, measures taken regarding those casualties and future plans.
Daily NK: Are the North Korean authorities aware of fatalities suffered by North Korean forces deployed to Russia?
“The state has already received reports of the situation, with information delivered and reported as normal through the military command system. The military manages related information moment to moment, while the Supreme Command and Central Military Commission strictly manage the information regularly once a month through its reporting line.”
Daily NK: Has word of North Korean fatalities spread within the military?
“Indoctrination activities are being planned in the Storm Corps and other units from which combat personnel have been sent to Russia since authorities predict potential individual unrest or rumors.”
Daily NK: It seems there could be unrest within the military if troops learn of battlefield fatalities in Russia. What do the North Korean authorities think about potential unrest? And what measures are they taking?
“There has yet to be an official administrative, political, security or comprehensive report of internal unrest over this issue. There has been no change in our principles and goals, and all measures are being taken to achieve these. To maintain the military’s psychological stability, once the war is over, the authorities plan three or four-stage events for related individuals to evoke patriotism at places designated within the military, by specialized sectors, by their units, and by the state. We will control the situation using political activity plans and propaganda and indoctrination activities.”
Daily NK: How are the fallen being handled?
“In principle, their bodies will never be returned, with a decision made that their cremated remains will come home. However, we may not always be able to process bodies quickly, depending on the state of the war.”
Daily NK: The authorities seem to be using means to render the troops unidentifiable, giving soldiers fake IDs and burning the faces off the dead. Have orders to this effect been issued?
“This is a military strategy to prevent and hinder enemy forces from gathering intelligence, and even combat personnel sent to the enemy line approved of it in oaths taken before the army standard prior to their deployment.”
Daily NK: With casualties seemingly mounting, why hasn’t a decision to withdraw been made?
“The decision to deploy troops to the battlefield was made to maintain the international military relationship between North Korea and Russia and to ensure the strategic national interests of the North Korean and Russian peoples, so a withdrawal is not being considered.”
Daily NK: There is talk that North Korea is preparing to send additional forces. How many personnel will be sent from which units and when?
“The dispatch of new personnel has already been decided per military needs and strategic cooperation. I can’t disclose specific information, but we will stand in the same foxhole with our Russian comrades until the end of the war, and I think deploying additional combat forces so they can do their winter training with their unit or in actual combat in a Russian trench would be an import experience for completing our war preparations.”
Daily NK: Isn’t reducing the possibility of fatalities the biggest issue? What preparations is North Korea taking regarding this?
“We are intensifying tactical training, bolstering military equipment and doubling the number of military interpreters compared to the first deployment to maximize communication between Russian and North Korean soldiers while carrying out operations.”
January 09, 2025 at 12:42PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)