Boaz Golany & Jacob Nagel
North Korean Troops Joining the War in Ukraine: A Step Towards WWIII? - Recent reports indicate that up to 10,000 elite North Korean troops are undergoing a quick training session in Russia and are on their way to join Russian troops in their effort to push back Ukrainian units that invaded Kursk Oblast a few weeks ago. This reinforcement is too small to cause a dramatic change in the battlefield but it’s a move that should set alarm bells ringing in Washington, Taipei, Jerusalem, and other Western-oriented capitols.
Why Should We Worry?
First, it’s an indication of how desperate Putin is as he faces ever-increasing challenges in recruiting soldiers from within Russia to substitute for the large number of casualties that the Red Army has already sustained since the war started in February 2022. The more desperate he becomes, the higher the likelihood that he will consider using nuclear weapons to achieve his goals.
Second, this deployment can serve as a pilot towards a much larger involvement of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) in the Russia-Ukraine war and perhaps also in other wars. With an estimated 1.3 million soldiers, the KPA is numerically one of the largest military forces in the world. A scenario in which hundreds of thousands of KPA soldiers are sent to battle, first in Ukraine and later in other arenas, should not be underestimated.
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