Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) drives a car with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the passenger seat in Pyongyang. (©Korean Central News Agency via Kyodo)
North Korean soldiers preparing to join Russia's front line in Ukraine are beginning to grasp the terror ahead.
Several young conscripts have attempted to flee a training camp in Khabarovsk in Russia's Far East, according to South Korean sources. They may have discovered that Vladimir Putin's "special military operation" - which Kim Jong Un has ordered them to support - is a bloody affair.
According to NATO and Western military officials, an average of around 1,200 Russian soldiers are killed or wounded in the Ukraine war every day.
A contingent of 2,600 North Korean soldiers is due to be transferred to the battlefront in Kursk by the end of October, according to Ukrainian intelligence. They have been issued Russian uniforms and weapons. Furthermore, their country of origin has been disguised through fake identity documents.
Russian commanders hope that members of the foreign battalion will blend in with troops from Siberia. Soldiers from Siberia, they say, have similar facial features to Koreans.
Frontline Spies
The South Koreans are monitoring developments. They promise that if any North Korean soldiers are captured, they will interrogate them.
Their objective is to discover if the men have the skills and determination to influence the outcome of the war. Though inexperienced, the North Koreans may well feel obliged to prove their worth. They have families back home who could be executed if things do not go well.
Kim Jong Un inspected a training session of his special forces on September 11. Bare-chested men wrestled each other as the dictator looked on, gun in hand.
Later, there was a live-fire drill.
DailyNK.com claims that any soldiers who dared to glance toward the Supreme Leader during the shooting session were arrested.
They can expect to appear before a court martial for "lack of mental preparedness and poor understanding of operational orders."
Diplomatic Outrage
United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also commented on the matter on Wednesday. He said that Washington was "seeing evidence that there are North Korean troops that have gone to Russia."
"If they're a co-belligerent, their intention is to participate in this war on Russia's behalf, that is a very, very serious issue," Austin was quoted as saying by the Financial Times. "It will have impacts not only in Europe, it will also impact things in the Indo-Pacific as well."
Earlier on August 21, South Korea's foreign ministry summoned the Russian ambassador to demand an immediate halt to the deployment of North Korean troops.
Kim Hong-kyun, the South's first vice foreign minister, said their participation in the war violates United Nations resolutions. Furthermore, it poses a serious threat to South Korea's security.
Subsequently, the Kremlin declined to directly respond to questions about North Korean troop movements. However, it insisted that Russia has a sovereign right to develop ties with Pyongyang.
Kim Jong Un's powerful sister, Kim Yo-jong slammed both South Korea and Ukraine. Moreover, she described the countries as "bad dogs bred by the US."
"A military provocation against a nuclear weapons state may lead to a horrible situation, unimaginable for politicians and military experts in any big or small country in the world," she said in a statement.
Arming Ukraine
Claims that North Korean troops are about to go to war in Europe have fueled the debate within South Korea about whether the country should supply Ukraine with lethal weapons.
Up to now, the South Korean government has held back. It has maintained that arming a nation currently at war would be unconstitutional. Nevertheless, a top security official implied this position could be reviewed.
"We would consider supplying weapons for defensive purposes as part of step-by-step scenarios. And if it seems they are going too far, we might also consider offensive use," a presidential official told reporters.
As with many issues in South Korea, the debate over how to handle Ukraine arouses strong emotions and polarized positions.
Opponents of President Yoon Suk-yeol took to the streets of Seoul. They were making the case that South Korea should keep out of the Ukrainian conflict.
Japanese Perspective
Reports that North Korea may be deploying troops to support the Russian army cause concern in Japan.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani discussed the developments at a meeting with his G7 counterparts in Naples on October 18-20. A joint statement noted grave concerns about the strengthening of military cooperation between Russia and China and between Russia and North Korea. They argued such actions enable Russia to maintain its illegal war in Ukraine and have significant and broad security implications.
On North Korea's role, the defense ministers addressed the issue using direct terms. They said, "We also condemn the increasing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, including North Korea's export and Russia's procurement of North Korean ballistic missiles in direct violation of relevant UNSCRs, as well as Russia's use of these missiles against Ukraine."
Besides condemning these recent developments, the defense ministers reaffirmed their commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.
Implications for Asia
A Japanese diplomat who recently left the post of Ambassador to Ukraine said the North's "de facto entry" into the Ukraine conflict would impact the security environment in Asia.
Kuninori Matsuda told Kyodo News that Pyongyang's participation would mean the war in Europe has become "completely linked with security in East Asia."
The Japanese government is spearheading an international effort to monitor the enforcement of sanctions against North Korea. Several other countries including the United States, South Korea, and the United Kingdom, support the plan.
Britain's ambassador to the UN has also commented. It "is highly likely North Korea has agreed to send troops to support Russia's war in Ukraine."
"It seems that the harder Putin finds it to recruit Russians to be cannon fodder, the more willing he is to rely on the DPRK [North Korea] in his illegal war," Dame Barbara Woodward, the permanent UK representative to the United Nations, while speaking in New York.
"Putin is clearly desperate. His desperation is a danger to us all."
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Author: Duncan Bartlett, Diplomatic Correspondent
Mr Bartlett is the Diplomatic Correspondent for JAPAN Forward and a Research Associate at the SOAS China Institute. Read his other articles and essays.
