The Kremlin can count on only one real ally in its war in Ukraine. Belarus has offered its territory for the staging of the war, and China has provided some dual-use exports that certainly contribute to the war effort. But only one country has sent a significant number of troops to fight alongside the Russians: North Korea.
Today, about 10,000 North Korean combat troops are stationed in Kursk—along with another 1,000 engineer troops—to protect this western-most city from another Ukrainian incursion and to free up Russian troops to participate in offensive operations inside Ukraine. Another 6,000 North Korean soldiers were killed or injured in previous fighting.
Earlier this year, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un cut a ribbon on a new housing district dedicated to the families of those killed in the Russian war in Ukraine. Recently, at the inauguration of a memorial in Pyongyang to the fallen, Kim celebrated a “new history of friendship with Russia written in blood.” North Korea’s relationship with China was previously celebrated to be “as close as lips and teeth.” But blood goes deeper still.
North Korea also continues to supply Russia with millions of rounds of ammunition—artillery shells, anti-tank rockets, and short-range ballistic missiles. According to …read more
Source:: Institute for Policy Studies
