North Korean troops in Russia should not be underestimated, former soldiers tell BBC

What Haneul remembers most from his time in the North Korean military is the gnawing, persistent hunger. He lost 10kg in his first month of service due to a diet of broken corn and moldy cabbage.

Three months into training, he says, almost his entire battalion was severely malnourished and had to be sent to a recovery center to gain weight.

When they were later deployed as frontline guards on the border with South Korea, rice replaced corn. But by the time it reached their bowls, a large portion had been vacuumed away from the rear units and the rest had been cut up with sand.

Haneul says his unit was among the best supplied, a tactic to prevent them from defecting to South Korea. But Haneul couldn’t prevent it.

In 2012, he bravely stormed through the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) – the strip of land that separates the north from the south.

His experience and that of other military defectors help shed light on the situation of thousands of North Korean troops deployed to the front lines of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Pyongyang has Around 11,000 soldiers were reportedly deployed to help Russian forces recapture part of the Kursk region that Ukraine captured in a surprise summer offensive.

Earlier this week, Seoul, Washington and Kyiv said said soldiers had now entered combat “in significant numbers” and reported the first casualties, with South Korean officials estimating more than 100 had already been killed and more wounded. This number has not been confirmed.

However, defectors and other military experts told the BBC that these troops should not be underestimated.

According to South Korean intelligence, most belong to the elite Assault Corps unit and have “high morale” but “lack understanding of contemporary warfare.”

Only the taller, more athletic men are chosen for the Storm Corps, says defector Lee Hyun Seung, who trained North Korea’s special forces in the early 2000s before defecting in 2014.

He taught them martial arts, how to throw knives and make weapons from cutlery and other kitchen utensils.

But although the Storm Corps’ training is more advanced than that of regular North Korean units, the soldiers are still undernourished and even undernourished.

Online videos purportedly from troops in Russia show younger, “frail” soldiers, Haneul says. They stand in stark contrast to Pyongyang’s propaganda videos, which show men breaking out of iron chains and smashing blocks of ice with their bare hands.

During his entire time in the Army, Haneul says he fired only three bullets in a single live ammunition training session.

The closest he came to combat was when a hungry farmer stumbled into the DMZ in search of vegetables. Haneul says he ignored orders to “shoot all intruders” and let the man go with a warning.

Given the lack of information from North Korea, it is difficult to say how much has changed in the decade since Haneul’s defection. It appears that the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, has put much of his limited resources into missiles and nuclear weapons rather than his standing army.

But according to another soldier, Ryu Seonghyun, who defected in 2019, the first three years in the military were “incredibly hard,” even for the special forces. The 28-year-old, who worked as a driver in the Air Force for seven years, says conditions worsened during his service and rice gradually disappeared from meals.

“The soldiers are sent into the mountains for days with a small amount of rice and are told it is part of their survival training.”

Given that these troops were trained to fight on the mountainous Korean peninsula, the defectors wonder how well they will adapt to fighting in the plains and trenches of Kursk.

What is crucial is that the Sturmkorps is not a front-line unit. “Your mission is to infiltrate enemy lines and wreak havoc deep within enemy territory,” Ryu says.

But, he adds, Kim Jong Un has no alternative to sending special forces because regular soldiers spend most of their time farming, building or chopping wood.

“Kim Jong Un had to send men who could demonstrate at least a certain level of combat ability in order not to damage North Korea’s reputation in Russia.”

The language barrier seems to have created an additional hurdle. On Sunday, Ukraine’s defense intelligence said communications problems led North Korean soldiers to accidentally fire on a Russian battalion, killing eight people.

With these assessments, it would be easy to dismiss the troops as “cannon fodder” and a sign of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s desperation. But that would be a mistake, say the defectors. Their loyalty to the regime and their fighting spirit will be of great importance.

“Most of the soldiers in the assault corps come from working class or farming families who are extremely obedient to the party and follow orders unconditionally,” says Haneul, whose father and cousin were in the special forces.

Intensive, ideological “brainwashing” sessions held every morning will further ensure they are mentally ready, Lee adds. He believes North Korean troops will “accustom themselves to the battlefield, learn to fight the enemy and find ways to survive.”

Even though the soldiers had no choice about whether to deploy, Ryu assumes that many wanted to leave. The ambitious will see this as an opportunity to advance their careers, he says.

And considering how tough it is to serve in North Korea, some will have relished the chance to experience life abroad for the first time.

“I think they will be more combat-ready than the Russian troops,” he adds, admitting that in their situation he would have preferred to be sent there too.

Chun In-bum, a former South Korean special forces commander, agrees with the defectors’ assessment. “Just because they lack food and training doesn’t mean they’re incompetent. You will acclimatize quickly. We shouldn’t underestimate them.”

While 11,000 troops are unlikely to turn the tide in such a war of attrition – Russia is estimated to suffer more than a thousand casualties a day – experts and officials believe this could be just the first installment, with Pyongyang possibly as many as 60,000 Could send soldiers or even 100,000 if they are turned.

Given these numbers, Mr. Chun believes they could end up being effective.

In addition, Kim Jong Un will be able to cope with major losses without endangering the stability of his regime, say the former soldiers.

“Those sent will be men without influence or connections – to put it bluntly, those who can be sacrificed without offspring,” says Haneul.

He remembers how shocked he was when he learned that there were no children of high-ranking parents in his front-line unit: “That’s when I realized we were expendable.”

He doesn’t expect much resistance from the families of the deceased, whose sons, he says, will be honored as heroes.

“There are countless parents who have lost a child after sending them to the military,” he adds, remembering his late second cousin. His aunt received a certificate praising her son for his heroic contribution.

The loyalty of soldiers and their families could dampen Ukrainians’ and South Koreans’ hopes that many will simply defect once they enter combat. Kiev and Seoul have discussed conducting psychological operations at the front to persuade men to surrender.

But it appears they don’t have access to cell phones. According to Ukrainian intelligence, Russian soldiers’ phones are even confiscated before they encounter North Korean troops.

Possible infiltration strategies therefore include spreading messages via loudspeakers or using drones to drop leaflets.

Both Ryu and Haneul decided to defect after reading anti-regime propaganda sent across the border from South Korea. However, they doubt it would work so far from home.

They say that it takes a long time to develop the will and courage to defect.

Furthermore, Haneul suspects that the officers were ordered to shoot anyone who tried to escape. He remembers his comrades opening fire as he made his daring dash through the DMZ.

“Twelve bullets flew almost a meter over my head,” he says.

Even conquering North Korean troops could pose a challenge for Ukraine.

In the north, captivity is considered extremely shameful and worse than death. Instead, soldiers are taught to take their own lives by shooting themselves or setting off a grenade.

Ryu remembers a famous military song called Save the Last Bullet. “They tell you to save two bullets, one to shoot the enemy and one to shoot yourself.”

Still, former special forces trainer Lee is determined to help. He offered to go to the front to communicate directly with the soldiers.

“It is unlikely that they will migrate in large numbers, but we have to try. Hearing familiar voices like mine and others from North Korea could have an impact on their psychology,” he says.

Haneul just hopes they return to North Korea. He knows that there is a possibility that some of his relatives will be among the troops sent to help Russia.

“I just hope they make it and return safely.”

Additional reporting by Jake Kwon and Hosu Lee