North Korean soldiers join Russian forces: What could go wrong for both sides?

Kim Jong Un sent his first batch of soldiers to Russiaʼs Kursk region this fall‚ which Ukraineʼs military confirmed after initial contact. Around 10k North-Korean troops (NK) moved to help Vladimir Putinʼs struggling forces in what Pyongyang calls a “righteous holy war“

The NK-Russian partnership started about 5 months ago when Putin went to Pyongyang to sign a deal with Kim. Since then NK became Russiaʼs main weapon supplier: they provide half of artillery shells and many ballistic missiles that Russians use in combat

Hereʼs what NK wants from this deal:

• Combat experience for its untested army
• Military tech upgrades
• Cash payments
• Russian help if war starts in Korean Peninsula

This move shows Russiaʼs weak spots - they lost over 600k soldiers since wars start and cant find new ones. The Kremlins budget already spends lots of money on payments to dead soldiers families (its about 6% of state spending)

Chinese leadership isnt happy about this partnership. At recent BRICS meeting in Kazan Xi Jinping warned against “adding fuel to the fire“; Beijing worries that NKʼs actions might bring US allies closer in East Asia

South Korea might join Ukraineʼs side as response - their army is much better equipped than NKʼs. Even if they dont send troops directly theyll watch how NK soldiers perform and maybe send some modern weapons that dont have US-style usage limits

The risk of NK troops running away is real too. When these soldiers see how Ukrainians live - even during war - it might make them think about their own countrys problems. If many soldiers desert it would be very bad for Kimʼs government back home

The US response stays careful though. Joe Biden said Ukraine can hit NK troops only if they cross into its territory‚ but wont lift limits on Western weapons use. This careful approach lets Putin and Kim make bigger moves without real pushback