THE DIPLOMAT

APLN Vice Chair Chung-in Moon was interviewed by The Diplomat on the implications of North Korean troops in Russia and how the US presidential election may reshape the geopolitical landscape across Europe and Northeast Asia.

What are your thoughts on the reports of North Korean troops in Russia?

In South Korea, there is an ongoing debate over the nature of North Korea’s involvement. For instance, the Ministry of National Defense states that it’s a dispatch of personnel to Russia, while the National Intelligence Service calls it a dispatch of troops. Personnel, of course, could mean an engineering unit or any other supporting staff. Troops, on the other hand, mean actual soldiers being deployed to Russia.

Another debate revolves around whether this could be considered an actual military deployment. This is because North Korean troops currently training in areas like Khabarovsk or Vladivostok are wearing Russian military uniforms and are under the Russian rubric. If that’s the case, it would be more accurate to call them mercenaries like the Wagner forces.

Ultimately, we will have to wait and see if North Korean soldiers appear in battle zones like Kursk or Donbas and what their mission would entail.

Does this change Russia’s battlefield strategy? 

President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that the North Korean troops’ engagement would be more symbolic than strategic. First, there is a linguistic barrier. Second, the weapons systems used in the two countries are different. Lastly, even the doctrinal orientation of the two militaries diverges. It is, therefore, very tough for the North Korean military to be integrated into the Russian system. Significance on the battlefield seems minimal to me.

Read the full article here.

Image: Wikimedia Commons