Regime in hostages of the family sent to Russia by soldiers - Reuters

The Director of the National Intelligence Service of South Korea (NIS) Cho Ti Teng, at a closed session of parliament, said that another 1500 soldiers arrived from the DPRK to Russia - in addition to the former 1500, which, as reported by NIS recently, were sent there from October 8 to October 13. Two deputies were informed about it by journalists.

According to one of them, intelligence found that in September and October the troops were trained in North Korea, and "now, it seems, dispersed on numerous training bases in Russia and adapt to local conditions. " They have not yet been sent to the Ukrainian Front, said the parliamentarians, adding that, according to NIS, about 10,000 North Korean soldiers will arrive in Russia by December. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed the fact of their departure to Russia on Wednesday.

In Moscow and Pyongyang, sending soldiers from the DPRK to Russia is denied. In the DPRK, according to NIS, power retains silence. The departure of soldiers is not discussed and was not officially reported. But the family of soldiers sent to Russia began to be taken to special places, as rumors began to spread to locals.

"There are signs that the authorities have moved and isolated families of servicemen in a certain place to control them and at the root of stopping the rumors," said MP Lee Son Kvon. According to him, NIS reported that "many translators" for North Korean soldiers were hired in Russia; On the bases they are taught the use of modern military equipment, such as drones.

"According to Russian instructors, the North Korean military has excellent physical data and a moral spirit, but have no idea of ​​modern warfare methods, such as drones. Therefore, in the event of their departure on the forefront, there may be many casualties," the insider said.

Kirill Budanov, the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, believes that if the DPRK soldiers will still be sent to fight with Ukrainians, then it will be a continuation of military cooperation by Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong. The North Korean dictatorship is already a large supplier of weapons to Russia. Supplies, which began at the end of 2022, reached 2. 8 million shells a year, which is only 100,000 less than Russia's annual production of 2.

9 million shells. From the end of 2023, North Korea has also transmitted a number of ballistic missiles whose starting systems are serviced by North Korean calculations. Because these missiles are mostly extracted from old stocks, their combat characteristics were unstable. They regularly fly past military goals to sow chaos in Ukrainian cities and towns. But Budanov notes that North Korea does not sacrifice his people or weapons from charity.

Extended cooperation follows from the mutual assistance contract signed by Vladimir Putin and Kim in Pyongyang in June 2024. Budanov describes the secret provisions of the agreement as a service for the service: Russian cash and know-how in exchange for Koreans and rockets. Russia helps North Korea to circumvent sanctions and "strengthen" its nuclear potential. In particular, he said, it transmits some technologies for small -capacity tactical nuclear weapons and underwater missile launch systems.

However, there are no independent confirmations of this statement. John Forman, who paid close attention to North Korea in his role of British military attaché in Russia in 2019-2022, interprets recent events as a sign of despair of Russia, reflecting how self-proclaimed the "second army of the world" as a strategic force. "Russia earlier looked at North Korea from above, as a pigeon state," he says.

The fact that the relatives of the DPRK soldiers are actually hostages in Kim Jong -in, was also noted by Budanov. In his opinion, they can be executed if cases on the front go bad, said Budanov: "They solve some of the problems that are in the Russians. This is a reason for concern. " According to Budanov, a contingent of 2600 people should be thrown to Kursk region days.

Fyodor Tertitsky, a specialist in North Korea from Kukmin University in Seoul, on the contrary, believes that ideology will play an evil joke with North Korean soldiers. They have never been abroad and spent their entire lives inside the information bubble, under rigid ideological control. "It is very risky for North Korea. It will be difficult to motivate their people to fight in a distant country, not knowing why they are fighting," so many can put up their weapons or surrender, says Tertitsky.