North Korea may end up sending Putin 100,000 troops for war

[red dog 1]

Japan Times
November 18, 2024

North Korea could deploy as many as 100,000 troops to aid Russia's war on Ukraine if the alliance between Pyongyang and Moscow continues to deepen, according to people familiar with assessments made by some Group of 20 nations.

The analysis is one of several on the evolving partnership between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said the people, speaking on condition of anonymity to talk about private discussions.
They stressed that such a move wasn't imminent and that military support at that scale -- if it occurred -- would likely happen in batches with troops rotating over time rather than in a single deployment.

Ukraine's Ambassador to South Korea made a similar assessment earlier this month.
Dmytro Ponomarenko said in an interview with VOA that Kyiv expected up to 15,000 North Korean troops deployed to fight in Russia's Kursk region -- and possibly in occupied areas of eastern Ukraine -- to rotate every few months.

[snip]

Spokespeople for South Korea's Defense Ministry and Presidential Office didn't respond to requests for comments.

More:
https://japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/11/18/world/politics/north-korea-putin-100000-troops/

[BOSSHOG]

1. Putin said it will be over in a couple of days?

Depending on foreign human sacrifices because he’s running out of his own, Putin doubles down on his only hope, win the election for trump. Mission accomplished.

[WarGamer]

2. The war will be over by then.

[red dog 1]

5. By when?

When is "then"?

[WarGamer]

14. Before 100k NK soldiers would be on the battlefield.

[red dog 1]

15. OK

[hlthe2b]

3. I have to think a lot of them will be what was once termed "cannon fodder," given the lack of combat experience...

(no matter how disciplined may be their marching before "Dear Leader." )

That said, Trump cares no more for the troops under his ultimate command than Putin or Kim Jong Un do theirs. A common trait of authoritarians and dictator-wannabes.

[red dog 1]

4. + 1

Last edited Wed Nov 20, 2024, 02:11 PM - Edit history (2)

I agree...a lot of them will end up as "cannon fodder;"
However, the soldiers from North Korea's 11th Corps, known as the Storm Corps, "are a unit trained in infiltration, infrastructure sabotage and assassinations"....They could do some serious damage, and, unlike the other North Korea soldiers, I don't think they fit the label "cannon fodder."

[bigtree]

6. unmotivated, ill-equipped, inexperienced young troops

...cannon fodder.

[red dog 1]

9. "They should not be perceived to be cannon fodder," says Mark Cancian, from the Center for Strategic and International

Studies (CSIS), adding such a characterization is "Ukrainian bravado."
Ukrainian and South Korean intelligence services have said that many of the troops deployed to Russia are some of Pyongyang's best, drawn from the 11tth Corps, also known as the Storm Corps -- a unit trained in infiltration, infrastructure sabotage and assassinations.
https://democraticunderground.com/100219744543

[bigtree]

11. .

"North Korean troops are conditioned with unwavering loyalty to their leadership and a unique psychological resilience cultivated by the regime," designed to fit a sense of "absolute sacrifice for the state" into Pyongyang's personnel, Ji Hyun Park, a North Korean defector, now a senior fellow for human security at the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy, previously told Newsweek.

"However, this psychological preparation may not translate effectively into practical resilience in the type of active combat scenarios currently seen in Ukraine, where they would face modernized and highly capable opposition in unfamiliar territory," Park said.

North Korea may also face morale, desertion and defection problems if its troops start sustaining casualty figures approaching those Russian fighters are experiencing, Andrew Yeo, a senior fellow with the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution's Center for Asia Policy Studies, recently told Newsweek.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/north-korean-defectors-boost-ukraines-fight-against-kim-jong-uns-troops/ar-AA1tVR2K

Most North Korean soldiers are underfed and poorly equipped, experts and escapees from North Korea say. The level of malnourishment in the population is reflected in the minimum height and weight requirements for military conscripts: soldiers must be at least 4-foot-10 (148 cm) and weigh 95 pounds (43 kilograms) to be eligible to serve, according to research by the South Korean Unification Ministry.

North Korean men are drafted into the military. They typically begin their service at 17 years old, and serve for eight to 10 years. Some women also serve in the military, typically for five years.

Although (the soldiers deployed to Ukraine) are among the North’s best trained troops, these soldiers are likely to face difficulties adjusting to modern warfare, said Hyunseung Lee, a North Korean escapee and human rights advocate who trained with the Storm Corps for six months while he served in the North Korean army’s Special Forces.

“They’re not trained with the best technology [or] advanced equipment,” Lee said. “If they were deployed in the war’s battlefield, the Ukrainians will use advanced technologies and drones and missiles. They will just not have had that experience before.”

Lee noted that for the vast majority of these Special Forces soldiers, deployment to Russia will be their first time encountering battle — and the outside world. He added that the soldiers are “victims of a ruthless deal between Kim Jong-un and Putin,” and that “many of them are facing their first real battle, ill-equipped and terrified.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/10/29/north-korea-elite-troops-russia-ukraine-war/

[Amishman]

12. Sounds like an excellent opportunity for S. Korea

Send military aid to Ukraine and decimate your enemies best troops without having to risk any of your own people.

[Greybnk48]

17. I read elsewhere that they are underweight/malnourished and not

in very good shape in general. Similar to the North Korean soldier who ran across the DMZ to escape to South Korea a few years ago. He had parasites, and I think TB, and was malnourished with rotting teeth. That's most likely what they're getting in Russia. Just bodies who aren't really fit to fight.

[bdamomma]

7. Putin is

branching out to North Korea, now that is sick and criminal like Putin is.
As of yesterday, it has been a 1,000 days of war in Ukraine. Perpetuated by Russia.

[Elessar Zappa]

8. The majority

will be parasite-ridden and on the verge of starvation. They’ll just be cannon fodder.

[red dog 1]

10. See Reply #9

[MarineCombatEngineer]

13. Training for combat and actual combat are 2 far different things.

One can be trained to the hilt, but no amount of training can really prepare one for actual combat.
Trust me, I know.

[WarGamer]

16. When I was in my US Civil War stage... I remember reading a soldier of the day

He said that different people just have different composition.

No amount of training will make a man stand in formation on a line of battle in combat and keep his cool.

He said he's seen men faint, piss themselves, have mental breakdowns and run, cry like a baby and lose all self control once the gunfire starts.

And some men... some men stand there.

I remember he said the religious and the farm boys were the most resilient...



For 40+ years, I've enjoyed reading about "outliers"... meaning men who do exceptional things.

Stuff like shooting down 300+ enemy airplanes... surviving 40+ bombing missions... these dudes are all MoH or Knight's Cross winners... and all of them are exceptionally cold-blooded and steadfast.