{"id":2355768,"date":"2024-10-16T15:05:02","date_gmt":"2024-10-16T19:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ukraine-claims-north-korean-soldiers-being-sent-en-mass-to-fight-for-russia-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-10-16T15:07:14","modified_gmt":"2024-10-16T19:07:14","slug":"ukraine-claims-north-korean-soldiers-being-sent-en-mass-to-fight-for-russia-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ukraine-claims-north-korean-soldiers-being-sent-en-mass-to-fight-for-russia-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine claims North Korean soldiers being sent en mass to fight for Russia &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fukraine-claims-north-korean-soldiers-being-sent-en-mass-to-fight-for-russia-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2355768&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky\u2064 has claimed that North Korea is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/reports-china-eyes-takeover-of-us-air-base-in-afghanistan\/\" title=\"Reports: China Eyes Takeover of US Air Base in Afghanistan\">sending soldiers<\/a> to fight alongside Russia in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. He highlighted\u2062 the\u2062 transfer\u2064 of not only\u2063 weapons\u2062 but also personnel from North \u200bKorea to Russia, stating that North Korea has become\u200d part of a coalition against Ukraine, which\u2063 he characterizes as a war\u200b against three \u2062countries: Russia, Iran, and \u2064North Korea.<\/p>\n<p>While Zelensky&#8217;s \u2062assertions\u2062 include claims that North Korean troops are training in Russia and could be deployed to the front lines, U.S. and NATO officials\u200d have stated they\u2062 cannot confirm these claims of direct military \u2063involvement.\u200b Reports vary, with some saying several thousand North \u2063Korean troops are training in Russia, while others mention figures like\u2064 10,000,\u2062 although their exact roles remain indistinct.<\/p>\n<p>Concerns about\u2063 North\u200c Korean involvement have garnered attention from other countries, with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun suggesting that such involvement is likely given the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-obama-foreign-policy-hand-disappointed-in-bidens-pro-israel-posture\/\" title=\"Former Obama Foreign Policy Hand Disappointed in Biden\u2019s Pro-Israel Posture\">military alliance<\/a>\u200c between \u200bRussia and North Korea.\u200b Meanwhile, Russian officials have dismissed \u200cthe claims, labeling them as &#8220;fake news.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Despite the uncertainty and mixed\u200d reports surrounding North Korea&#8217;s involvement, the North Korean military is known to have a large standing force, which raises questions about its potential role in the ongoing conflict.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Ukraine claims North Korean soldiers being sent en mass to fight for Russia<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1683697\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ukraine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Ukraine\">Ukraine<\/a> claimed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/north-korea\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"North Korea\">North Korea<\/a> is sending soldiers to fight on the side of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/russia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Russia<\/a> in its war against Ukraine.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Several Ukrainian sources have been claiming North Korean involvement in the war, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky making the accusation on Wednesday without <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/leaked-audio-shows-twitter-ceo-admitting-regrets-during-all-hands-meeting\/\" title=\"Leaked Audio Shows Twitter CEO Admitting Regrets During All-Hands Meeting\">providing specifics<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In this Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015, file photo, North Korean soldiers in historic uniforms march during a parade on the Kim II-Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo\/Wong Maye-E, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&ldquo;The coalition of criminals together with Putin currently includes North Korea &mdash; the Kim family, which enslaves more than 20 million of the Korean people. Our intelligence records not only the transfer of weapons from North Korea to Russia but also the transfer of people,&rdquo; he&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.president.gov.ua\/news\/haj-nasha-spilna-robota-za-planom-peremogi-yaknajshvidshe-ob-93849\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>&nbsp;during a speech to the Ukrainian Rada, presenting his so-called victory plan.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;These are workers for Russian factories, instead of Russians killed in the war, and personnel for the Russian army. This is the participation of the second state in the war against Ukraine on the side of Russia,&rdquo; Zelensky added.<\/p>\n<p>He went so far as to say that Ukraine was at war with three countries: Russia, Iran, and North Korea.<\/p>\n<p>United States Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/us-south-korea-north-korea-russia-ukraine-campbell-103e27e415d8253c05d60514a0dec41a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"said\">said<\/a> the U.S. couldn&rsquo;t confirm Ukraine&rsquo;s claim of direct North Korean involvement. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also said the alliance couldn&rsquo;t confirm the claims at a briefing on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>The <em>Washington Post<\/em>, the <em>Guardian<\/em>, and several Ukrainian sources have all claimed the involvement, to varying degrees, of North Korean soldiers in Ukraine. Most disagree over the extent of involvement, with each giving different figures and details.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, a <em>Washington Post<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/2024\/10\/11\/north-korea-russia-ukraine-military-cooperation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"report\">report<\/a>, citing an anonymous Ukrainian intelligence official, claimed that &ldquo;several thousand&rdquo; North Korean troops were training in Russia and could be deployed to the front line in Ukraine as early as this year. The North Korean soldiers who are on the ground are only there as observers, he said, with none seeing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/poll-majority-of-americans-do-not-want-u-s-troops-fighting-russian-troops\/\" title=\"Poll: Majority Of Americans Do Not Want U.S. Troops Fighting Russian Troops\">direct combat<\/a> yet.<\/p>\n<p>An anonymous Western diplomat <a href=\"https:\/\/kyivindependent.com\/north-korea-has-sent-10-000-soldiers-to-russia-western-source-says\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"told\">told<\/a> the <em>Kyiv Independent<\/em> that North Korea had sent 10,000 soldiers, though their roles were unclear.<\/p>\n<p>A Russian dissident Telegram channel <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/kremlin_secrets\/4728\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"claimed\">claimed<\/a> that six North Korean officers were killed in a Ukrainian missile strike in Donetsk, a claim boosted by a Ukrainian official. He said that the soldiers &ldquo;did not directly participate in combat, but they were military personnel already integrated.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The most direct claim is from <em>Ukrainska Pravda<\/em>, which, citing unnamed special services sources, claimed that Russia was assembling a 3,000-strong force known as the &ldquo;Buryat Battalion.&rdquo; Buryats are a Siberian ethnic group of Mongolian origin who have become renowned for their fighting ability in Russia and alleged brutality in Ukraine. They <a href=\"https:\/\/www.media-diversity.org\/the-savage-warriors-of-siberia-how-an-ethnic-minority-in-russia-came-to-be-unfairly-blamed-for-the-worst-war-crimes-in-ukraine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"feature heavily\">feature heavily<\/a> as the targets of derision in Ukrainian media and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=P10A_pUP3jI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"nationalistic music\">nationalistic music<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun said the reports of direct North Korean military involvement were &ldquo;highly likely,&rdquo; though his evidence was circumstantial.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Russia and North Korea have an agreement that is basically a military alliance, so it is highly likely that North Korea would send additional troops,&rdquo; he told lawmakers. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s how we&rsquo;re assessing it, and we will definitely prepare for it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed claims of North Korean involvement as &ldquo;fake news.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Some Russian Telegram channels mocked the claims.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Real stealth soldiers. Everyone talks about the Koreans, but no one has seen them,&rdquo; the Wagner-linked Reverse Side of the Medal channel <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/rsotmdivision\/21355\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"quipped\">quipped<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>North Korea has one of the largest standing armies on Earth, with nearly 1.3 million active personnel and 600,000 reservists. However, its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dia.mil\/Portals\/110\/Documents\/News\/NKMP.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"quality\">quality<\/a> has come under question, wielding largely outdated Soviet-era equipment. The crippling poverty and dire living standards of the country have also brought into question the soldiers&rsquo; morale.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, some Russian and Ukrainian sources agree that the soldiers could be used to man inactive parts of the front line(s) in order to open up Russian troops for operations elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Eul-Chul Lim, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/live-news\/20241008-n-korean-soldiers-highly-likely-killed-in-ukraine-seoul\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told AFP<\/a> that North Korea could see the war in Ukraine as an opportunity to give its military &ldquo;real-world combat experience.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This might even be a driving factor behind sending North Korean soldiers &mdash; to provide them with diverse experiences and wartime training,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Russia and North Korea have grown increasingly close following the former&rsquo;s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with Pyongyang providing large amounts of war material for the Russian war effort, especially shells.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1683697\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1683697\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ukraine alleges North Korea is sending troops to support Russia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2653,"featured_media":2355769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/North-Korea-Parade.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[32109,4280,4187,6991],"class_list":["post-2355768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-north-korea","tag-russia","tag-soldiers","tag-ukraine"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/North-Korea-Parade.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2355768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2653"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2355768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2355768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2355769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2355768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2355768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2355768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}