Vladimir Putin confirmed about first that he held talks with Kim Jong Un about deploying North Korean soldiers against Ukraine, Focus.de summarizes the latest news related to North Korea's entry into the war against Ukraine.
Against this background, Kim Jong Un's regime in Pyongyang has taken measures to prevent desertion or insubordination among North Korean soldiers sent to Russia. According to Business Insider, the dictator fears that information from abroad could be leaked back into North Korea. He sees foreign culture, such as K-pop, as a threat to his rule.
North Korea is holding a family member (of deployed soldiers) hostage to ensure that citizens abroad return home. Anyone who deserts puts their entire family at great risk. When (if) the soldiers return, they will be sent to re-education camps to ensure their loyalty.
Against this background, Russian President Vladimir Putin did not deny that Russia already has North Korean soldiers, but said that it was not his country's actions that led to the escalation of the conflict, alluding to Western arms supplies to Kiev. “Moscow has never doubted that Pyongyang is serious about the implementation of the strategic partnership treaty in its part on joint defense”, the Russian president said in Kazan, where the BRICS summit was held.
South Korea is now considering supplying weapons to Ukraine, despite its previous policy of not exporting weapons to countries in active conflict. A government official said various options were being considered, including military support (with the provision of offensive weapons). At the same time, South Korea has warned of a possible escalation as North Korea could take advantage of Russian technology to improve its nuclear missiles.
Russian lawmakers ratified a military cooperation pact with North Korea yesterday as the US confirmed the deployment of 3,000 North Korean troops in Russia. The West believes that this creates the danger of a major escalation in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has been going on for 32 months now. The US has announced that 3,000 North Korean soldiers are in Russia and are being trained at several locations in the country. They said it was a very serious move and warned that if these forces were involved in fighting in Ukraine, they would be a legitimate target.