It is clear what Vladimir Putin gains from thousands of North Korean troops joining Russia’s prolonged war in Ukraine. But the motivation behind Kim Jong Un sending young and inexperienced soldiers into a battle that will enter its third winter this year is less apparent.
North Korean soldiers training to fight in Europe’s biggest conflict since the Second World War have stakeholders watching to see if the so-called “blood alliance” with Russia could become one of the most lucrative projects the reclusive country has ever pursued.
Thousands of North Korean soldiers are already training in Russia for combat with the Ukrainian army alongside the Russian president’s troops as the two most heavily sanctioned and isolated regimes step up their friendship to an unprecedented level.
South Korea, the US, and the UK have confirmed the presence of North Korean soldiers on Russian soil with most massing near the Kursk border of Ukraine where Mr Putin’s forces have faced some of the toughest battleground challenges from Kyiv.
The South Korean intelligence agency, which first raised the alarm over the troop deployment, has said at least 12,000 soldiers including generals and senior officials are in Russia now, and American intelligence said they could be fighting “within days”.
It would mark the first time that North Korea, which has one of the world’s largest militaries with 1.2 million soldiers, has put boots on the ground in an international conflict.
North Korea has not fought a war since 1953 when the Korean War ended in an armistice but has been preparing for a renewed conflict with South Korea.
It is an unprecedented move for an isolated country like North Korea to mobilise soldiers in a distant war after decades of closely guarding the country against foreign news and even restricting movement from one province to another. Its soldiers would be on unfamiliar territory, handling new weaponry and comrades speaking a foreign language.
What’s on the table for the leader of the impoverished nation? Food, cash, and nuclear and space cooperation, experts say.
But these are immediate and predictable benefits. The more important question is what Mr Kim is aiming to obtain from this relationship over the longer term – a dangerous escalation that could have more far-reaching consequences for northeast Asia, analysts say.
The South Korean spy agency said last month Russia could pay at least $2,000 per month to each North Korean soldier, shelling out a total of $20m (£15.5m) per month for 10,000 soldiers.
A huge percentage of their earnings – up to 95 per cent – will likely go directly to Mr Kim’s coffers, and the remainder to the soldiers, according to Lee Woong Gil, a former member of one of North Korea’s top Storm Corps units.
This means a soldier would end up earning $1,200 to $2,400 – a lucrative enough offer for many young men willing to volunteer for the risky Russian tour, former soldiers said.
North Korea has also faced acute food shortages in recent decades since a crippling famine killed an estimated hundreds of thousands in the mid-1990s. They have often been exacerbated by natural disasters, including monsoon floods. A significant number of defectors said they never received government food rations in North Korea.
