North Korean troop deployment to Russia was Pyongyang’s initiative – NYT

The agency notes that when North Korean troops began arriving in Russia this fall, some Western officials viewed it as a sign that the Kremlin was desperately seeking more soldiers.

However, US intelligence concluded that the troop deployment was North Korea’s idea, not Russia’s, though Putin quickly endorsed it.

According to Ukrainian and Western estimates, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent at least 10,000 troops to Russia. The North Korean soldiers have mostly joined the Russian units that are conducting a counteroffensive against Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region.

American officials suggest Kim Jong Un did not immediately receive anything in return from Russia for this favor. Instead, they believe Kim is hoping Russia will repay him in the future, particularly through diplomatic support, assistance in the event of a crisis, and technology sharing.

US officials also stated that it was important for Russia to enlist the support of North Korea and Iran, which provided military assistance during the war.

This allowed Russia to maintain intense artillery shelling on the front lines and put pressure on Ukrainian cities by targeting critical infrastructure with drones.

North Korea sent troops to Russia

In the fall, it became known that North Korea had deployed more than ten thousand of its troops to Russia. After training, some of them have already been deployed to the Kursk region, where North Korean soldiers are fighting against the Ukrainian Defense Forces together with the Russian army.

On December 16, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia had already begun to involve the North Korean military in the Kursk region.

On December 18, Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said that the losses of North Korean troops in the Kursk region have already exceeded 200 personnel.