Practicing in Ukraine – for a bigger war

Russia's invasion of Ukraine
Trains in Ukraine for bigger war: "Getting a chance to fight"

John Edgar

Published 00.08

They have sold robots and artillery shells to Putin.

Now the country's soldiers are also said to be fighting in Ukraine.

Experts fear Kim has a long-term plan.

The regime has threatened both South Korea and the US with war countless times. Now it is feared that North Korea North Korea is using Ukraine as a training ground for weapons and soldiers ahead of a larger clash against its enemies.

Wreckage from North Korean KN23 short-range robots was found after a Russian attack on Kharkiv at the beginning of the year.

           

         

          North Korea's short-range KN23 robot.

          1 / 2Photo: AP Via Kcna

Dead North Koreans

It was the first evidence that the military cooperation between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-Un had been activated in Ukraine.

In addition, North Korea is said to have sent boatloads of artillery shells to Russia.

According to South Korea and Ukraine, Kim has now taken the cooperation further and sent soldiers to Putin's war.

The Ukrainian military says it has found dead North Korean soldiers on the battlefield, a claim South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun says is "highly probable".

According to experts The New York Times spoke to, it's no coincidence. North Korea wants to sharpen its military capabilities in a critical situation at the same time as tensions rise with its neighbor to the south.

           

           

         

          Kim Jong-Un inspects troops during an exercise in North Korea.

          1 / 3Photo: AP

"Don't want to miss the opportunity"

- There has been a pattern: When North Korea has sold weapons to countries at war, they send people there. Not only to help the countries use the weapons, but often also to fight, Yang Uk, a military analyst in Seoul, told the NYT.

- They don't seem to want to miss an opportunity to fight in war and gain experience.

Yang Uk states that this would be the first time in decades that North Korean troops have participated in a major war.

- It is an opportunity for their commanders to experience what modern warfare looks like, including the use of drones. They will study how these lessons can be transferred to a Korean war theater, he told the NYT.

          

          

          

        

         Putin visited Kim Jong-Un in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang earlier this year.

         1 / 4Photo: AP

Thought weapon against South Korea

The short-range KN23 robot is assumed to be one of North Korea's main weapons against South Korea if war breaks out between the countries.

- From its use on the battlefield, North Korea can gather valuable data to increase the robot's effectiveness - data it can also use when selling to foreign buyers, Yang Moo-jin, who heads an institute focused on North Korea studies in South Korea, told the NYT.

From the American side, they claim to have seen no evidence that regular North Korean troops have so far been deployed in the fighting in Ukraine. The dead North Koreans found are believed to be soldiers recruited by Russia.

However, a source in the Pentagon tells the NYT that it "would not be surprised" if Kim Jong-Un sends soldiers to fight in the country.