They have never seen the Internet in their lives. And now, having found themselves in Russia, North Korean soldiers are literally glued to their screens to watch online… porn.
This was written by the leading international commentator of the "Financial Times" Gideon Rahman, citing his sources. And if this story is true, it becomes a perfect illustration of the paradoxes and problems surrounding Vladimir Putin's deal with Kim Jong-un.
Rice and technology for Kim
From what we know about it, it is about an exchange: hundreds of thousands of tons of rice plus missile and space technology in exchange for soldiers. There is no doubt that the North Korean dictator really needs both rice - to feed a population accustomed to meager rations, but also technology - to improve North Korean ballistic missiles.
It is more difficult to answer the question of what the Kremlin will gain from this deal in the long term. The author of these lines is far from ridiculing the DPRK army as "backward". I have been to South Korea. There, the threat from the North is taken very seriously. For South Korean politicians and military, Seoul's skyscrapers collapsing under the blows of North Korean artillery are not some kind of cinematic utopia, but one of the possible scenarios of the future that should not be allowed.
Will the DPRK military change the situation on the front?
From the point of view of Ukraine, the interesting question is whether 10 or 20 thousand North Korean soldiers, who are about to enter or have already entered battle with the Ukrainian armed forces, can fundamentally change the situation on the front. Let's not forget that their interaction with the Russian military will not be easy at all, and here ignorance of the Internet is just one of the problems. It will not be easy for Russian commanders to set combat missions for foreigners, and for them to report through translators. The risk of misunderstandings and mistakes is too great.
In addition, the Korean People's Army (in communist dictatorships everything is always "people" and "democratic") uses Russian, Chinese, and North Korean weapons. Its officers are trained in Russian and Chinese military schools, but many elements of management and planning in the army differ from what is accepted in the Russian armed forces.
Finally, although the intensity of the fighting today is not as intense as in the case of Mariupol or Volchansk, the number of the North Korean contingent is clearly not enough to fundamentally change the situation in Russia's favor. I will make one assumption: once they get to know the Internet, and once they are far from the dictatorship, the temptation for the North Koreans to quickly surrender will be very great. I am sure that Kiev will find, if it has not already done so, enough philologists for propaganda in Korean.
Of course, the families of the soldiers who remain hostages of the Kim dynasty at home are a factor against their quick surrender to the Ukrainians. But this generally reflects badly on their morale and determination to fight. There is no doubt that the North Koreans will be thrown into the most dangerous parts of the front. So most of them will not return home alive. But Kim does not care about this - he does not care at all about the lives of his own citizens.
Putin is betting on blackmail
For now, it seems that the benefit to Putin from the North Korean soldiers is small. So what are they for? Don't think, though, that this is some particularly clever strategic move. The Kremlin simply took advantage of the opportunity to secure some reinforcement for a while - and relatively cheaply. That's the whole explanation.
In my opinion, the question is not even about what kind of help the North Korean soldiers will be. The Russian regime is looking for tools to blackmail the West, and it sees its cooperation with the dictator from Pyongyang as just such a tool. This is a clear threat to America and its Asian allies - South Korea and Japan. It is as if Moscow is now telling them: "We have allied ourselves with one of the most vile and unpredictable regimes in the world. Tremble, because we will give Kim missile technology to make him even more actively threaten Seoul and Tokyo with a nuclear strike. Call us right now and convince us to leave Asia alone - in exchange for concessions regarding Ukraine, of course".
I am not sure that this will work with the administration of President-elect Donald Trump. Trump considers himself an expert in negotiations with Pyongyang, and Putin is clearly redundant in this case - he is not present in Trump's plans regarding Korea.
It is also unclear whether Xi Jinping gave Kim Jong-un his consent to the deal with Moscow. Beijing is Kim's main sponsor and patron. If he did, then China has embarked on the path of deliberate destabilization of East Asia. And this will provoke a response from the United States, its allies in Seoul and Tokyo, as well as from India.
If Kim has made a deal with Putin behind the Chinese back, this will be the first and last such agreement: the regime in Beijing does not allow its vassals to act independently. But this will probably be a one-time deal, at least for now.
The Chinese leadership does not want Russia to be defeated, but this does not mean that it wants to appear in the eyes of the world as a military ally of the Kremlin. And that's exactly what will happen if Kim starts regularly sending Putin soldiers to fight in Ukraine.
Author: Konstantin Eggert