North Korea sends reinforcements to bolster Russian forces in Ukraine
"North Korea is presumed to be accelerating preparations for the additional deployment of its troops to Russia while continuing to push for potential launches of a spy satellite or an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)," informed the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of South Korea, as quoted by Yonhap.
"With around four months having passed since the deployment of troops to the war between Russia and Ukraine, (North Korea) is assumed to be accelerating preparations for additional measures and deployment amid multiple casualties and occurrence of prisoners," noted the JCS.
Reinforcements will arrive in two months
On 22 January, similar information was reported by a high-ranking U.S. Department of Defense source, quoted by the New York Times (NYT). According to the source, North Korea plans to send reinforcements to Russia within the next two months. However, neither the Pentagon nor the JCS specified the number of soldiers involved.
Earlier reports indicated that Moscow pays Pyongyang around €1,900 for each soldier, which equates to approximately 83 annual salaries of the average North Korean citizen.
It is known that North Korean soldiers are actively fighting in the Kursk region, which Putin is attempting to reclaim from Ukraine before starting negotiations with former President Donald Trump.
Kim’s soldiers as "cannon fodder"
"The government in Kyiv made it clear at the time that it had no intention of holding onto the territory seized, merely to use it as a bargaining chip in future peace negotiations. Those killed, wounded, missing or captured. Of the 4,000, the officials said around 1,000 are believed to have been killed by mid-January," reported the Russian section of the BBC, citing data from Western intelligence.
Ukrainian military claim that North Korean soldiers are being used as so-called "cannon fodder," directed to capture fortified positions through minefields and under heavy fire, leading to significant casualties.
Kim's soldiers rarely become prisoners – the wounded often commit suicide using grenades, and those who surrender are eliminated by Russian drones.
