South Korea’s SEOUL The thoughts of North Korean soldiers who are fighting and losing their lives for Russia in the conflict against Ukraine are not well understood. However, one of them is Lee Chul Eun.
“It is heartbreaking to see troops from the isolated, communist-ruled North being sent abroad by leader Kim Jong Un, only to then give up their youth for a land that is not even theirs, but the foreign land of Russia,” said Lee, 38, a North Korean defector and former soldier who is currently living in South Korea.
He is among several defectors who discussed with NBC News the mindset, training, and living conditions of North Korean soldiers, including their readiness to commit suicide if necessary.
According to Lee, his former coworkers are basically sent out to serve as cannon fodder on the front lines.
Ukrainian forces have arrested North Korean soldiers alive for the first time since they arrived in Russia in the fall; images and video show one man with bandages on his wrists and another with bandages around his jaw.
When he announced the captives’ capture earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described them as tangible evidence of North Korea’s entry into the war, marking a significant uptick in the long-running conflict.
More than 11,000 North Korean soldiers are reportedly engaged in combat in the Kursk area of Russia, where Ukrainian forces conducted a cross-border incursion in August, according to the United States and its allies. The reports have not been verified by Pyongyang or Moscow.
In an interview in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, Ryu Sung Hyu stated, “To be honest, it is not easy to capture a North Korean soldier.”
According to Ryu, who was in the North Korean military until 2019, when he fled to South Korea, all new recruits are taught a song that has a stanza about reserving their final bullet for oneself in order to avoid being captured.
In one recent instance, a North Korean soldier who was in danger of being captured by Ukrainian forces attempted to set off a grenade while yelling Kim’s name, but was killed before he could do so, according to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service.
Following the deaths of over 300 of its soldiers and the injuries of 2,700 more, the South Korean military announced this week that North Korea is getting ready to send more troops to Russia. According to South Korean MPs, the soldiers’ inadequate knowledge of contemporary combat and Russia’s deployment of them were to blame for the high death toll.
The extent of American military assistance to Ukraine under President Donald Trump, who has voiced doubts about ongoing U.S. backing, and their readiness to fight and die for Russia might both have a significant impact on how the war in Ukraine plays out.
It is believed that Kim is giving Russian President Vladimir Putin troops and weaponry in exchange for technical support for his ballistic missile and nuclear programs. With three launches this year, including several short-range ballistic missiles, a new hypersonic intermediate-range missile, and strategic cruise missiles, his flurry of weapon testing has continued.
Trump angered South Korea on Tuesday when he referred to the closed-off government as a nuclear power. U.S. officials have long avoided using this term because it may be interpreted as acknowledging North Korea as a nuclear-armed state.
Ahn Chan Il, who spent more than ten years in the North Korean military before defecting to South Korea in 1979, stated that Kim is deploying troops to Russia for two reasons, both of which are motivated by desperation. The first is to generate foreign exchange, which is scarce in North Korea as a result of UN sanctions related to its nuclear development.
The North Korean military, which hasn’t been sent abroad since the Vietnam War, also gains important expertise from the deployment.
This month, Dorothy Camille Shea, the deputy U.S. ambassador to the UN, told the Security Council that North Korea is better equipped to wage war on its neighbors when it fights alongside Russia.
The troops were not wearing their uniforms and were deployed to Russia as mercenaries, according to Lee, a former five-year member of the North Korean military. According to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, they were provided with bogus identification documents, Russian-made weaponry, and military uniforms.
Lee claimed that since North Korea dispatched them without formally acknowledging them, it makes no difference if they perish there. They were sent there to sacrifice their lives and return with large sums of money, not to respect the nation.
‘No longer a part of the society’
North Korea, which has one of the biggest standing armies in the world, requires mandatory military service. Before being assigned to a regiment, soldiers must complete three months of basic training, according to Lee, who arrived in South Korea in 2016 after six hours of swimming from the North.
According to Lee, as soldiers, they are informed that they are people who are no longer a part of their families or society and that they must obey the directives of the supreme leader, who is Kim.
Having been brainwashed by North Korean propaganda since they were young, they have no problem accepting this, Lee added.
According to Lee and others, North Korean soldiers work on farms and construction projects for the majority of their time rather than serving as genuine soldiers.
Lee Hyun-seung, who spent more than three years in the North Korean military, claimed, “I think I only fired three bullets per year.” He claimed that we had about 20 bullets when he transferred to a more elite unit.
Lee, whose family defected in 2014 and who currently resides in the United States, expressed skepticism when asked if he believed that North Korean forces might aid Russia in winning the war.
He admitted that he wasn’t entirely sure because he was aware of their inadequate training.
Hunger is the biggest opponent for North Korean soldiers, who are provided with food and clothing but are otherwise virtually unpaid.
Since Kim spends most of his resources on his weapons programs, North Korea faces food shortages, which means that soldiers, like the majority of the people, suffer from malnutrition and may even starve to death.
According to Lee Chun Eul, the major ingredients of meals are simply rice, corn, or potatoes, occasionally combined with grass or even tree bark.
He claimed that his exposure to international media that infiltrates the nation despite strict government controls was a major factor in the gradual transformation in his perceptions of North Korea. Growing up in the 1990s, James Bond was one of his favorite movies. The popularity of South Korean TV dramas has recently upset the North Korean government, which has sentenced two youngsters to 12 years of hard labor for viewing them.
“I wonder if they would still have joined if they had watched as much foreign media as I did in North Korea,” Lee remarked of North Korean soldiers dispatched to Russia. I also question whether Kim Jong Un’s dictatorship and the North Korean government would still exist.
The defectors express their hope that North Korean forces engaged in combat in Russia will seize the chance to depart, just as they did.
According to Ahn, North Korean laborers who have spent their entire lives confined by a tight system begin to view their country as a jail when they travel overseas. It’s difficult to believe they wouldn’t think about escaping to live a more liberated life once they understand what freedom could entail.
Along with achieving freedom, they might also give the United States and other countries important knowledge about the tactics and capabilities of the North Korean military, which the North Korean regime frequently exaggerates.
Ahn has provided Ukraine support in the fight against North Korean troops, as have other North Koreans who fled as soldiers.
However, he stated that our goal is psychological warfare to alter the thinking of North Korean soldiers rather than directly taking part in the conflict. We want to send messages to the North Korean military, asking them to pursue freedom rather than perish needlessly, using leaflets or websites like YouTube.
They observe with sorrow as North Korean soldiers, whose experiences they are all too familiar with, continue to suffer casualties.
According to Lee, these young people perished because they were unaware that they were about to die.
Jennifer Jett reported from Hong Kong, while Janis Mackey Frayer and Stella Kim reported from Seoul, South Korea.