SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Thousands of young people Soldiers sent by North Korea to RussiaThe majority of those reportedly helping fight against Ukraine are elite special forces, but that hasn’t stopped speculation that they will be massacred because they have no combat experience, are unfamiliar with the terrain, and will likely be dumped in the wildest places. battlefields.

This may be true, and soon. Observers say the troops have already arrived at the front. But from a North Korean perspective, these soldiers may not be as miserable as outsiders think. For former North Korean soldiers, they may actually view their trips to Russia with pride and as a rare chance to make good money, see a foreign country for the first time, and gain preferential treatment for their families back home.

“They are very young and will not fully understand what this means. “They will consider it an honor to be chosen from among a large number of North Korean soldiers to be the ones to go to Russia,” said Lee Woong-gil, a former member of the same special forces unit, the Storm Troopers. He came to South Korea in 2007. “But I don’t think most of them will make it home alive.”

concerns about Possible involvement of North Korea Developments in the Russia-Ukraine war came to the fore this week when the Pentagon said North Korea had sent nearly 10,000 troops to Russia and that those troops would fight against Ukraine “in the next few weeks.” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Monday that some North Korean military units are already in Russia’s Kursk border region, where they are fighting against Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

North Korea’s troop deployment It could mark a serious escalation of the nearly three-year war. It surprised many outside observers because North Korea has its own security headache and a growing dispute with the United States and South Korea. nuclear program.

Massive North Korean military losses would be a major political blow for the country’s 40-year-old ruler. Kim Jong Un. But experts say Kim may see this as a way to get much-needed foreign exchange and security support from Russia in exchange for joining Russia’s war against Ukraine.

“Kim Jong Un is taking a big gamble. If there are not too many losses, he will get what he wants to some extent. But things will change a lot if most of their soldiers die in battle,” said Ahn Chan-il, a former North Korean army first lieutenant who is now president of the World Institute for North Korean Studies think tank in Seoul.

The Storm Corps, also known as the 11th Corps, is one of Kim’s most senior units. Their main missions will be to infiltrate agents into South Korea, blow up important facilities in the South, and assassinate key figures in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula.

Lee, who served in the Storm Corps from 1998 to 2003, recalled that his unit received better food and supplies than other units, but many members still suffered from malnutrition and tuberculosis.

Although it is gradual economic recovery Over the past 30 years in North Korea, defectors say the average monthly wage for ordinary North Korean workers and soldiers has been less than $1. They say many people engage in capitalist market activities to make ends meet because the country’s state rationing system is largely broken.

Russia is expected to estimate all costs associated with the deployment of North Korean troops, including observers’ salaries, at at least $2,000 per month per person. About 90 percent to 95 percent of their salaries will likely go to Kim’s coffers, with the rest going to soldiers. This means one year of service in Russia would earn a North Korean soldier between $1,200 and $2,400. That’s big enough to prompt many young soldiers to volunteer for risky tours of Russia, veterans say.

Ahn said North Korea would likely offer other incentives to raise soldiers’ social status, such as membership in the ruling Workers’ Party and the right to move to Pyongyang, the country’s showcase capital. Kang Mi-Jin, a defector who runs a company that analyzes the North Korean economy, said even family members of soldiers sent to Russia could be given benefits such as good homes or admission to good universities.

Choi Jung-hoon, a former lieutenant in the North Korean army, said serving on foreign soil will attract many soldiers who want to see other countries for the first time.

North Koreans are prohibited from accessing foreign news, and moving from one state to another within the country requires government approval. There are frequent calls for North Korean construction, logging and other workers sent abroad to bring in foreign money. “slaves” But defectors say such overseas jobs are often better than staying in North Korea, and many use bribes and family connections to obtain them.

“North Korean soldiers see going to Russia as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Ahn said.

Ahn and other observers say such views could change if soldiers see their colleagues die in large numbers. Many North Korean soldiers may surrender to Ukrainian forces and Resettlement to South Korea.

North Korean soldiers have trained in the mountainous terrain of the Korean Peninsula and are unfamiliar with the largely flat battlefields of the Russia-Ukraine war. Experts say that because North Korea has not fought a major war since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, they also do not understand modern warfare, including the use of drones.

“My heart ached,” said Choi, now the leader of an activist group in Seoul. Ukrainian video It purports to show scrawny North Korean soldiers believed to be in their teens or early 20s.

“No one thinks they will go to Russia to die,” Choi said. “But I think they are cannon fodder because they will be sent to the most dangerous areas and they will definitely be killed.”

Leader Kim Jong Un may also be hoping that the troop offer will push Russia to share the advanced and highly sensitive technology it needs to perfect itself. nuclear capable missiles. This transfer may depend on how long the war lasts and how many more troops Kim sends.

Nam Sung-wook, a former director of a think tank run by South Korea’s spy agency, said North Korea would likely reap hundreds of millions of dollars in soldiers’ salaries. He said soldiers would have direct experience of modern warfare but would likely die in large numbers and Russia would be reluctant to hand over its high-tech missile technology.

“North Korea will continue to hide its troop deployment from its own people because the public will be uneasy if they learn that its soldiers are being sent abroad to be killed,” said Nam, who is now a professor at Korea University in South Korea.