{"id":221761,"date":"2025-01-22T23:40:14","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T23:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/22\/fighting-alongside-russia-north-koreans-wage-their-own-war\/"},"modified":"2025-01-22T23:40:14","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T23:40:14","slug":"fighting-alongside-russia-north-koreans-wage-their-own-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/22\/fighting-alongside-russia-north-koreans-wage-their-own-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Fighting Alongside Russia, North Koreans Wage Their Own War"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/01\/21\/multimedia\/21ukraine-nkorea-03-hljt\/21ukraine-nkorea-03-hljt-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Fighting Alongside Russia, North Koreans Wage Their Own War\" title=\"Fighting Alongside Russia, North Koreans Wage Their Own War\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The North Korean soldiers fighting for Moscow in Russia\u2019s Kursk region are assigned their own patches of land to assault. Unlike their Russian counterparts, they advance with almost no armored vehicles in support.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">When they attack, they do not pause to regroup or retreat, as the Russians often do when they start taking heavy losses, Ukrainian soldiers and American officials say. Instead, they move under heavy fire across fields strewed with mines and will send in a wave of 40 or more troops.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">If they seize a position, they do not try to secure it. They leave that to Russian reinforcements, while they drop back and prepare for another assault.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">They have also developed singular tactics and habits. When combating a drone, the North Koreans send out one soldier as a lure so others can shoot it down. If they are gravely wounded, they have been instructed to detonate a grenade to avoid being captured alive, holding it under the neck with one hand on the pin as Ukrainian soldiers approach.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Sent to Russia to join with Moscow\u2019s troops in Kursk, the North Koreans essentially operate as a separate fighting force, the Ukrainian soldiers and American officials said \u2014 distinct in language, training and military culture.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt\u2019s partly two different militaries that have never trained or operated together and partly, I think, Russian military culture, which is, shall we say, not highly respectful of the abilities and norms and operations of partner forces,\u201d said Celeste A. Wallander, who until Inauguration Day was the Pentagon\u2019s assistant secretary for international security affairs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The North Koreans are largely special operations troops trained for surgical strike missions, she said, but the Russians have basically used them as foot soldiers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Last fall, North Korea sent about 11,000 soldiers to aid Moscow\u2019s forces in the Kursk region of southern Russia, where the Ukrainians captured territory with a surprise invasion last summer. Since their first combat engagement in early December, roughly one-third of the North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded, Ukrainian and American officials said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, Ukraine\u2019s top military commander, said this week that North Korean losses continued to climb, estimating that almost half those sent had been either injured or killed, but he warned that they were \u201chighly motivated, well-trained\u201d and \u201cbrave.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Reinforcements are expected \u201cwithin the next two months,\u201d according to one senior U.S. defense official.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The New York Times spoke to a dozen Ukrainian soldiers and commanders who are engaged in direct combat with North Korean soldiers, as well as four U.S. defense officials and military analysts, to put together a portrait of how the North Koreans operate on the battlefield. The Times also viewed video of North Korean assaults provided by the Ukrainian military.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The American officials requested anonymity to speak frankly about battlefield details. Ukrainian soldiers and their commanders asked to be identified only by their first names in accordance with military protocol.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">With 1.2 million troops, North Korea\u2019s military ranks among the world\u2019s largest standing armies, and its entry into the war was a profound escalation in a war now approaching its fourth year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Even before it sent troops to Russia, North Korea was a major supporter of Russia\u2019s war effort. It has sent Moscow millions of artillery shells \u2014 which now account for about half of the Russian munitions fired daily \u2014 and more than 100 short-range ballistic missiles, according to Western and Ukrainian intelligence officials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Kremlin <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rfi.fr\/en\/international-news\/20241022-north-korea-un-representative-denies-pyongyang-sent-troops-to-russia\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">has denied deploying<\/a> North Korean soldiers to the battlefield and is taking steps to hide their involvement, officials said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For instance, the North Koreans have been issued what one Pentagon official described as \u201cpocket litter\u201d \u2014 documents that register them as being from Russia\u2019s Far East.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">President Volodymyr Zelensky said that one of the captured soldiers was found to have a military ID in the name of a resident of Tuva, southern Siberia. The fake identity used data from a real Russian citizen, Ukrainian intelligence officials said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ukrainian claims about attempts to hide North Korean participation could not be independently verified.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While North Korean soldiers provide additional manpower, the Russians have struggled to integrate them into the battlefield.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The difficulties have ranged from minor issues, like finding uniforms small enough to fit North Korean soldiers, to communication problems that have led at least twice to North Korean and Russian forces clashing directly because of mistaken identity, U.S. officials and Ukrainian soldiers said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Russians are taking steps to address the issues, Ukrainian soldiers said, but have yet to form a more cohesive fighting force.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cNow they\u2019ve started composing groups that include a translator or someone who speaks Russian with a radio, but these groups are not very effective,\u201d said Andrii, the Ukrainian commander.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Using video from a drone camera, Andrii described an assault soon after it happened earlier this month, offering a window into North Korean tactics.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Viewed through thermal imaging, the North Korean soldiers stood out as small dark specks on the snow-dusted fields. They walked some five miles \u2014 with many killed along the way \u2014 and were massing in a tree line for an assault on a Ukrainian trench a short distance away.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThere are about 50 of them here,\u201d Andrii said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some were wounded, the video showed, but they did not retreat. They waited for reinforcements and then attacked. Assault groups were made up of five to eight soldiers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The North Koreans take many casualties, Andrii said, but keep sending new units.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt\u2019s just forward, forward,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s motivation, orders and strict discipline.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The \u201dshock brigade\u201d tactic of soldiers advancing with little concern for the mayhem that awaits them is heavily featured in North Korean military training and propaganda. Adopted from the Korean War days, the strategy has caused many casualties in a war fought over open and flat lands with drones, according to South Korean intelligence officials. But they said the North would consider those losses a necessary cost of becoming more skilled in modern warfare.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt feels like they specifically came here to die, and they know it themselves,\u201d said Oleksii, a platoon commander.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ukrainian intelligence officials said two North Korean soldiers captured on Jan. 9 were also providing insights into the deployments in Kursk. And Ukrainian Special Operations Forces have released excerpts from a number of diaries and communications collected from the bodies of North Korean soldiers, which American officials said appeared authentic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In one diary, a North Korean soldier wrote that he was motivated to join Russia\u2019s fight to redeem himself from an unspecified transgression.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI wear the uniform of the revolution to protect the Supreme Commander,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI betrayed the Party that trusted me and committed ungrateful acts against the Supreme Commander. The sins I have committed are unforgivable, but my homeland has given me a path to redemption, a new start in life.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-10\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He also included practical details, like how to shoot down a drone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cSimultaneously, the one baiting the drone keeps a distance of 7 meters, while those shooting stay 10-12 meters away. If the bait stands still, the drone will also stop moving. At this moment, the shooter eliminates the drone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The North Korean tactics have forced the Ukrainians to adapt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For instance, drone pilots said they generally did not target individual North Koreans, hunting for groups instead.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And given the density of North Korean assaults, the standard procedure of placing anti-personnel mines about 15 meters apart does not work well. Now, soldiers said, they are trying to leave no more than five meters between mines.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Interestingly, Ukrainian soldiers said, the North Koreans try to remove their dead and wounded from the battlefield, which is different from the Russians.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Andrii shared drone video of the process, with some dead and wounded soldiers being dragged out \u2014 pulled by their arms or loaded on sleds \u2014 as others moved into the position.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-11\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The North Korean forces deployed to Ukraine included around 500 officers and at least three generals, according to Ukrainian military intelligence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The generals are posted at Russian command and control headquarters, U.S. defense officials said, and that is where the objectives are decided.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The commanders decide when they need artillery and how long to wait before ground forces maneuver, a senior U.S. defense official said. They synchronize with the troops in the field, so that the troops are not talking to their Russian counterparts, to try to reduce miscommunication.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ukrainian soldiers fighting in Kursk said the North Korean tactics were costly but effective.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe Koreans are starting to push the front lines, targeting less defended areas and wearing out our troops that way,\u201d said Oleksii, the platoon commander.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-12\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Fighting one of the world\u2019s largest armies was hard enough, he said, but fighting two was \u201con the edge\u201d of what was possible.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Capturing prisoners has proved challenging because North Koreans have been trained not to be taken alive, soldiers said, and Russian drone operators were always watching.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIf Russians see Koreans being captured, they use drones to finish them off \u2014 killing both the Koreans and our soldiers,\u201d Oleksii said, adding that some in his brigade were recently killed this way.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ukrainian soldiers said the North Koreans should not be underestimated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThey are being tested, really tested,\u201d said Andrii, the drone commander. They did not have combat experience, he said, but \u201cnow they are here, gaining it, and they are becoming very strong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Liubov Sholudko<!-- --> contributed reporting from Ukraine and <!-- -->Choe Sang-Hun<!-- --> contributed from Seoul.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/22\/world\/europe\/north-korea-soldiers-ukraine.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The North Korean soldiers fighting for Moscow in Russia\u2019s Kursk region are assigned their own patches of land to assault. Unlike their Russian counterparts, they advance with almost no armored vehicles in support. When they attack, they do not pause to regroup or retreat, as the Russians often do when they start taking heavy losses, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":221762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/01\/21\/multimedia\/21ukraine-nkorea-03-hljt\/21ukraine-nkorea-03-hljt-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[137233,163809,75,3096,23231,164378,1358,52859,202,1130,19363,3102],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221761"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221761"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":221763,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221761\/revisions\/221763"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}