(SEOUL) — Over 12,000 North Korean troops are estimated to be fighting against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region, deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Dorothy Camille Shea told the United Nations Security Council last week.
Of those dispatched to the region, an estimated 300 North Korean soldiers in Russia have died and over 2,700 have been wounded, according to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service’s closed briefing to the National Assembly on Monday.
North Korean defectors who finished their almost decade-long military service in their 20’s have shared their mixed sentiments and analysis with ABC News.
“So unfortunate, that’s all I can say,” North Korean defector Lee Cheol-eun said with a grimace after watching footage of North Korean soldiers fighting in Kursk, Russia, against the Ukrainian forces.
The 37-year-old served in the Korea People’s Army security department until he escaped the regime in 2016, meaning he knows better than anyone about having to follow orders in a system that one does not believe in.
“They do not know why they have to bleed and lose lives on that battlefield, I feel empty watching them,” Lee said.
“The soldiers dispatched to Russia must be the ones who are best trained about modern warfare and should have received the basic adaptation training upon arrival. The fact that they’ve been pushed into a situation where they have no choice but to die breaks my heart,” Defector Jang Seyul, who served in the North Korean People’s Army’s intelligence agency that focuses on cyber warfare simulations, told ABC News.
The North Korean soldiers on the Kursk frontlines are the infamous “Storm Corps,” according to South Korea’s National Intelligence.
North Korea is estimated to be training at least 40,000 to as many as 80,000 Storm Corps soldiers who spend 13 years serving in the military and cut off from the outside world.
Jang recalled how dominant they were during joint battle drills.
“People would refer to them as murder weapons. They received high-level training that the regular soldiers couldn’t imagine,” said Jang.
Jang says the Storm Corps were provided with slightly larger rations of food and that they are compensated better once they are discharged considering their longer tenure of service and harsh training.
The Storm Corps are not only prepared to be physically stronger but also highly indoctrinated, according to the retired Lieutenant General Chun In-bum of the South Korean Army, referring to them as “an elite force that is one grade above the average North Korean unit.”
However, in spite of their reputation, the Storm Corps soldiers in North Korea have been seen flailing helplessly under Ukrainian drone attacks, according to footage provided by Ukrainian forces.
Seoul’s intelligence service briefed lawmakers in a closed-door briefing on Monday, saying the main reason for mass casualties is due to the North Korean soldiers’ lack of understanding in modern warfare, such as drone target shots and charging without rear fire support.
General Chun In-bum said that it may be too early to determine if the North Korean soldiers were insufficiently trained, explaining that drone warfare is new to everyone on the frontlines.
“The North Koreans will be unaccustomed to the flatlands and the Ukrainian front, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not going to be adapting, especially if they are experiencing high casualties. It’s a great motivator when you see that your life is on the line,” Chun told ABC News.
Seoul speculates that North Korea may dispatch more troops in the near future. Chun believes the same.
“So even for just rotational purposes, I think there is a high probability that more soldiers will be deployed there. Whatever the situation is, the relationship between Putin and Kim Jong Un is going to solidify and, to a degree, I’m sure the Russian people are going to appreciate that the North Koreans are sending soldiers at a moment when they are in a very difficult situation,” General Chun said.
The dispatch of North Korean soldiers’ to Russia is still an open secret within the secluded regime which has limited access to news from the outside world. Defectors and experts on North Korea in Seoul having different opinions about how the North Korean public will react once they are aware.
General Chun assumes that for the family members of the deceased North Korean soldiers, the regime will compensate them with all the benefits possible in hopes they will come to appreciate their sons’ sacrifice for their country.
But Jang, on the other hand, sees the North Korean people as less loyal than the generation before them, suggesting the regime would have to put in greater effort into explaining the soldiers’ deaths.
“Average North Korean people are unaware of the dispatch. But people who secretly communicate with the outside world, and those who listen to the propaganda broadcasting signals sent from the South probably know what is going on,” Lee told ABC News. “I hope the survivors of the Russia dispatch will return home and inform others of the injustice of the North Korean system based on their experience abroad.”
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