The Ukrainian and Russian militaries appear to agree on one thing, at least anecdotally: North Korean soldiers deployed to fight Ukraine are more combat-ready than the Russian military.
Although testimonies to that end may be fragmentary and subjective, they are noteworthy because they provide a glimpse into the readiness of the North Korean military.
According to Ukrainian media outlet UA Wire on Thursday, Petro Khaydachuk, a senior Ukrainian military officer, appeared on the Ukrainian internet broadcast Espresso TV and said that captured Russian prisoners confessed that the combat readiness of the North Korean troops was superior to that of the Russian mercenaries.
Khaydachuk explained that although his unit has not yet captured any North Korean soldiers, the captured Russian prisoners had experience with them.
“Russian prisoners of war reported that the North Korean soldiers’ equipment, weapons and training were much better than those of the Russian regular troops,” he said. “According to the Russian prisoners of war, the North Korean soldiers monopolized the assault operation mission, and the Russian soldiers were in charge of securing the area after the North Korean assault was successful.”
Khaydachuk added that according to Russian prisoners, the North Korean soldiers use separate training bases and there is not much interaction. There is a language barrier, they eat and live completely separately, and they do not conduct joint operations except in combat situations.
The assessment that North Korean soldiers are generally superior is also coming from Ukrainian units that have captured wounded troops.
A Ukrainian special forces unit that recently captured a wounded North Korean soldier in the Kursk region of Russia gave this assessment in an interview with the Ukrainian daily The Kyiv Independent on Wednesday.
A special forces unit member going by Bernard said that the North Korean soldiers he met on the battlefield were “very devoted to their beliefs, faithful to discipline, what they were told and their mission,” and that they were younger, more resilient and more motivated than the Russian soldiers.
Another Ukrainian soldier, Borsuk, said, “Russians are ready to surrender en masse, but North Korean soldiers are not,” in the Kyiv Independent interview.
About 11,000 North Korean soldiers are currently deployed in the Kursk region of Russia, which is occupied by Ukraine.
Ukrainian and Western military intelligence authorities believe that these North Korean soldiers are being used as “cannon fodder” instead of Russian soldiers in the battle to retake Russian territory, which is being carried out in the form of infantry advances.
They are vulnerable to modern warfare, such as drone attacks, and it is estimated that more than 3,000 have been killed or injured since their participation in the war began.
Security experts are observing that because North Korean soldiers have not been in combat since the Korean War, the deployment to the war in Ukraine offers an opportunity to gain combat experience.
BY LEE HAY-JUNE, LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]
