North Korean army units that are currently in Russia and preparing for combat operations are undergoing additional training. Defense Express was informed about its content by its own sources in the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.
We are talking about general military training. The North Korean soldiers are also taught russian commands, conducts coordination, and familiarizes with russian weapons and military equipment. Several conclusions can be drawn from this.
Read more: Expert of Defense Express Says russia-DPRK Agreement Is Strategic Military Alliance
First, the level of actual training of the DPRK military was recognized by russian commanders as requiring basic training. Even though the DPRK has sent special forces troops, as reported by South Korean intelligence.
Secondly, learning russian commands and executing them according to russian guidelines may mean plans to use these units together with russian units and under russian command. This represents an alternative to a scenario where DPRK troops would be organized into a conditional "expeditionary corps" allocated to a specific section of the frontline, preserving their internal hierarchy and without re-subordination.
It should be added that South Korean intelligence has found that the first military personnel from the DPRK were transported to russia on October 8. At the same time, they are expected to be at the frontline by November 1. According to the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, the first area of their deployment is the Kursk region. That is, the entire course of additional training for the North Korean military in russia can take up to three weeks.
Sources in the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine also noted that it is only a transfer of manpower from the DPRK, without equipment and weapons. Thus, we are talking about a real trade in "cannon fodder" that risks becoming systematic and solving one of russia's problems - the lack of manpower.
As Defense Express reported, North Korea experimented with a train-launched KN-23 missile in 2021, which raises the possibility that russia could try the same in Ukraine.
Read more: Speaking of DPRK Soldiers in russian Army, Let's Also Recall the "Chinese Volunteers" in the Korean War
