There is a possibility, although not very high at the moment, that North Korea will declare war on Ukraine because of its alliance with Vladimir Putin.< /p>
This was stated to “RBK-Ukraine“ the military expert Pavlo Narozhni. He clearly emphasized that if the Russians involve the North Korean army in active hostilities, it cannot be hidden and will immediately come to light.
His comment was made on the occasion of information from South Korean intelligence that Pyongyang plans to send engineering troops to the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia. The news comes just a few days after Vladimir Putin's visit to Pyongyang.
After his meeting with Kim Jong Un, he announced that the two countries had signed a strategic defense agreement that included a NATO-like Article Five: that the other side come to the aid of the other in the event of an enemy invasion.
„Let's imagine a situation where North Korean troops are building a railway line, and Ukrainian forces are shelling, destroying the invaders along with engineering units, and then North Korea says: “This is a declaration of war against us because they were Russian territory.” ;. Because they may think that the Donetsk region is supposedly “Russian territory”. That is, theoretically, Pyongyang can present such a narrative and then send combat units (against the ZSU)”, Narozhny said.
To date, however, this scenario is not very realistic, he believes. The reason, according to him, is that the war in Ukraine is not a war of North Korea, whose main target remains South Korea. If the North Koreans send, say, 50,000 of their troops to Ukraine, Seoul will immediately understand this and know that Kim Jong Un's regime has 50,000 fewer troops and correspondingly less ability to defend itself.
The Pentagon is also closely monitoring the possibility of North Korea sending its own combat forces against the Ukrainians. “It is something we are following closely. "I think if I were North Korea's military leadership, I would consider sending my forces as cannon fodder in an illegal war against Ukraine," Pentagon spokesman General Patrick Ryder said. We saw Russia's losses, he added.