North Korean soldiers may be being prepared for a move to the front lines of Russia’s war against Ukraine after learning basic Russian commands, South Korean lawmakers told reporters on Tuesday, citing North Korean intelligence officials. country.
About 10,000 North Korean troops are receiving military training in eastern Russia, the Pentagon estimated Monday — up from the White House’s previous estimate of 3,000.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) is now looking at the possibility of “some North Korean personnel, including high-ranking military officers, being transferred to the front lines,” lawmakers Lee Seong-kweun and Park said. Sun-won, who were briefed by the NIS during a closed-door meeting of a parliamentary intelligence committee.
Russia is teaching North Korean soldiers about 100 basic military words like “fire” and “in position,” the lawmakers said.
However, they added, it is clear that North Korean soldiers are having difficulty communicating — and it is unclear whether they will be able to overcome the language gap.
North Korea has also stepped up its security measures — both to protect its dictator Kim Jong-un and to prevent news about North Korean deployments in Russia from spreading across the highly isolated and impoverished country.
To that end, North Korean officials involved in the Russian effort are prohibited from using phones, while soldiers’ families are told that their loved ones are simply participating in a “military exercise,” the lawmakers said.
Despite these measures, word has spread within North Korea about deployments in Russia — sparking “unrest” in some parts of the country, lawmakers said.
Some residents and soldiers have expressed fear of possibly being sent to Russia, while others have questioned why they are being sacrificed for a different country, they added.
Last week, Ukraine intercepted Russian broadcast channels and released audio, with Russian soldiers being heard speaking dismissively about arriving North Korean soldiers, calling them “K Battalion” and referring to them as “the damn Chinese ”.
The intercepts also reveal plans to have one interpreter and three senior officers for every 30 North Korean men, which Russian soldiers are heard in the audio condemning.
“The only thing I don’t understand is that [deveria haver] three senior officers for 30 people. Where do we get them? We will have to remove them”, says a Russian soldier.
This could mark the first time North Korea has made a significant intervention in an international conflict. North Korea has one of the largest armies in the world, with 1.2 million soldiers, but most of its troops have no combat experience.
The Kremlin initially rejected allegations of North Korean troop deployments, but at the BRICS summit in Russia last week, President Vladimir Putin did not deny that Pyongyang had sent troops to the country.
North Korea said on Friday that any troop deployment to Russia to help with the war in Ukraine would comply with international law, state media reported, without explicitly confirming such a presence. North Korea has previously rejected such reports.
North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui is now in Russia for her second trip in six weeks, having departed Pyongyang on Monday. She likely traveled to discuss the potential deployment of more North Korean troops — and what Pyongyang would get in return, the lawmakers told reporters.
The news also comes as South Korea’s foreign and defense ministers head to Washington to speak with their counterparts, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, for an annual ministerial meeting.
This content was originally published in North Korean troops learned Russian commandos, says South Korean lawmaker on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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