NATO admiral calls North Korea's involvement in Russia-Ukraine war strategic mistake
Rob Bauer, Chair of the NATO Military Committee (photo: twitter.com/cmc_nato)
NATO Military Committee Chairman Admiral Rob Bauer has described the participation of North Korean forces on Moscow's side in Russia's war against Ukraine as a strategic mistake. He specifically pointed to the low effectiveness of the North Korean military and its high casualties, reports the South Korean newspaper Chosun.
At a press conference following a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, NATO's top official stated that coordination between Russian and North Korean troops is virtually impossible.
According to Admiral Rob Bauer, roughly one-third of the approximately 11,000 North Korean troops deployed to Russia's Kursk region have been wounded or killed.
Bauer added that North Korean soldiers are being used by Russia in a very ineffective manner, citing language barriers, lack of coordination, and their deployment to positions that are not strategically advantageous.
"North Korea is openly providing weapons to Russia, and Russia is also giving weapons to North Korea. This poses a problem not only for South Korea but also for the United States, which has troops stationed on the Korean Peninsula," Admiral Bauer said.
He expressed surprise that the world's most isolated nation, North Korea, had suddenly become involved in a war in Europe. The NATO representative described the situation as a major shift.
"It means that the Indo-Pacific is now suddenly connected to the European theater in a way that nobody thought for possible. That has huge consequences," Admiral Bauer said.
Additionally, Bauer placed responsibility for North Korea's involvement in Russia's war against Ukraine on both Moscow and Beijing.
"Especially considering that not only Russia, needing ammunition and missiles, but also China fundamentally made this possible," the NATO admiral stated.
Bauer added that while China does not supply weapons directly to Russia, it is actively supporting Russia's military-industrial complex.
In this context, the NATO representative emphasized the need for the alliance to provide a unified and strong response.
"NATO has explicitly said to China, ‘You cannot have it both ways.’ China cannot, on the one hand, say it wants to maintain good relations with the West and claim to uphold the UN Charter and at the same time keep fueling the war in Europe," Bauer stressed.
North Korean troops in Russia's war against Ukraine suffer significant losses
Recently, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyн stated in an interview that Russia lost up to a battalion of North Korean soldiers in the Kursk region within two days. The president specified that 3,800 have been killed or wounded among North Korean troops.
In late December 2024, the Pentagon reported observing no significant effectiveness from North Korean soldiers' attacks in the Kursk region, citing substantial casualties among their ranks.
Additionally, on January 11, it was reported that Ukrainian forces had captured two North Korean soldiers in the Kursk region. The prisoners disclosed, among other details, the significant losses sustained by their North Korean contingent.
In a January 17 report, analysts from the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) estimated that North Korean forces have suffered losses averaging 92 soldiers per day since they began participating in major combat operations in early December 2024.
According to ISW experts, if the current rate of casualties among North Korean troops in the Kursk region continues, the entire North Korean contingent could be killed or wounded in combat by mid-April 2025.
