Former North Korean soldiers tell BBC how troops fighting in Russia might fare

The chewing, persistent appetite is what Haneul recalls most vividly from his time serving in the North Korean army. He lost 10kg in his first quarter of services, due to a diet of cracked wheat and mouldy broccoli.

He claims that about his whole regiment was severely malnourished and needed to be sent to a healing facility to put on weight three weeks into training.

Rice replaced wheat when they were eventually deployed as frontline troops to the frontier with South Korea. However, by the time it reached their bowls, back units had already taken a lot of the siphon out, and the remaining had been sand-sanded off.

Haneul claims that his system was among the best-fed, a strategy to prevent them from emigrating to South Korea. But it failed to prevent Haneul.

In 2012, he made a death-defying run across the Demilitarised Zone ( DMZ)– the strip of land multiplying the North from the South.

His and other military dissenters ‘ experiences help to understand the condition of thousands of North Korean soldiers who were on the front line of Russia’s conflict with Ukraine.

Pyongyang has reportedly sent around 11,000 troops to help Russian forces reclaim part of its Kursk region taken by Ukraine in a surprise summer offensive.

Earlier this week, Seoul, Washington and Kyiv said said the soldiers had now entered the fight “in significant numbers”, and reported the first casualties, with South Korean officials estimating more than 100 had already been killed and more injured. This figure has not been confirmed.

But, dissenters and other military authorities have told the BBC these forces should not be underestimated.

According to South Korean brains, most belong to the wealthy Storm Corps system, and have “high morale”, but “lack an knowledge of modern battle”.

Just the taller, sportier people are selected for the Storm Corps, says diplomat Lee Hyun Seung, who trained North Korea’s special forces in the early 2000s before defecting in 2014.

He showed them how to use weapons and other home tools, as well as martial arts.

The men are also underfed and even malnourished despite the Storm Corps ‘ training being more advanced than that of ordinary North Korean products.

Online videos, apparently of the soldiers in Russia, present younger, “frail” troops, Haneul says. They contrast sharply with Pyongyang’s advertising video, in which people are seen breaking ice stones with their uncovered hands and bursting out of iron chains.

Haneul claims that he only fired three shots during a single live-fire coaching program throughout his entire service.

When a starving producer stumbled into the DMZ looking for produce, he was at his best when he confronted him. Haneul says he ignored guidance to” take any intruders” and let the person go with a reminder.

Given the lack of knowledge from North Korea, it is difficult to determine how much has changed in the ten years since Haneul defected. Kim Jong Un, the country’s president, appears to have spent a lot of his limited resources on missiles and nuclear weapons more than his standing military.

But according to another man, Ryu Seonghyun, who defected in 2019, the initial three years in the army are “incredibly tough”, even for the particular causes. The 28-year-old, who worked as a vehicle in the air pressure for seven decades, says that during his company, problems deteriorated and corn gradually disappeared from foods.

The troops are instructed to take a small amount of corn with them as part of their life training and are sent into the mountains for days.

The defectors wonder how well these troops will react to fighting on the plains and in Kursk’s pits given that they have been trained to fight in the rocky Korean Peninsula.

Critically, the Storm Corps are certainly a front system. Their goal is to “infiltrate enemy lines and cause chaos heavy within army territory,” according to Ryu.

But, he adds, Kim Jong Un has no option to sending special troops, as ordinary men spend most of their time gardening, creating or chopping wood.

To prevent deteriorating North Korea’s standing in Russia, Kim Jong Un had to send people who could demonstrate at least a particular amount of conflict capacity.

The speech challenge appears to have added to the challenge. Eight people were fatally shot on a Russian battalion by North Vietnamese soldiers unknowingly, according to the country’s defense intelligence unit on Sunday.

With these evaluations, it could be quick to dismiss the army as” shot feed” and a signal of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s despair. But that would be a oversight, the dissenters say. Their unwavering support for the government and their fighting spirit will be significant.

” Most of the men in the Storm Corps come from working-class or planting people, who are very faithful to the group and will follow directions unquestionably”, says Haneul, whose father and aunt were in the special forces.

Powerful, intellectual “brainwashing” meetings, held every day, will further ensure they are emotionally prepared, Lee adds. He believes the Northern Korean troops” will get accustomed to the field, learn how to fight the foe, and discover ways to survive”.

Ryu believes that some soldiers may have desired to leave if they had had the option to be deployed. The optimistic did take it as an opportunity to advance their profession, he predicts.

Some people may have enjoyed the opportunity to travel for the first time, given how difficult it is to offer in North Korea.

” I think they’ll be more willing to fight than Russian troops”, he adds, admitting that in their position, he too would have wanted to be sent.

Chun In-bum, a former chief of South Korea’s unique troops, agrees with the defectors ‘ appraisals. ” Just because they lack food and education, does not mean they are capable. They did acclimatise immediately. We shouldn’t undervalue them.

Experts and officials believe this could be just the first round of an protracted conflict, with Pyongyang likely able to send up to 60, 000 or perhaps 100, 000 if they are twisted, despite the fact that it is unlikely that 11, 000 troops will turn the tide if it is a day that Russia is thought to suffer more than a thousand casualties.

In these numbers, Mr Chun believes they could end up being effective.

According to the former soldiers, Kim Jong Un will be able to suffer significant losses without having an impact on his regime’s stability.

According to Haneul,” Those who have been sent will be men without influence or connections; to put it simply, they will be those who can be sacrificed without cause.”

He recalls being shocked to learn that his frontline unit had no children of high-ranking parents.” That’s when I realized we were expendable.”

He does not expect much resistance from the families of the deceased, whose sons, he says, will be honoured as heroes.

He continues, referencing his second cousin’s death,” There are countless parents who have lost a child after sending them to the military.” His aunt received a certificate, praising her son for his heroic contribution.

Ukrainian and South Korean rumors that many soldiers will simply defect could be undermined by their loyalty and their families. Kimiv and Seoul have been thinking about conducting psychological tests along the front lines to entice the men to come forward.

However, it appears that they are unable to use mobile devices. Even Russian soldiers ‘ phones are seized before they encounter North Korean troops, according to Ukrainian intelligence.

Therefore, potential infiltration strategies include using drones to drop leaflets or broadcasting messages through loudspeakers.

After reading anti-regime propaganda sent across the border from South Korea, both Ryu and Haneul made the decision to defect. But they have a doubt about how well this would work since they are from home.

They claim that the desire and the will to defect take a long time.

Haneul also believes that the officers will have been instructed to shoot anyone who tries to flee. He recalls that his fellow teammates opened fire as he made the daring DMZ run.

” Twelve bullets flew just a metre over my head”, he says.

Even capturing the North Korean forces may prove difficult for Ukraine.

Being a prisoner of war is viewed as being incredibly repugnant and worse than death in the North. Instead, soldiers are taught to take their own lives, by shooting themselves or detonating a grenade.

Ryu recalls a well-known military song called Save the Last Bullet. ” They tell you to save two bullets, one to shoot the enemy and one to shoot yourself”.

Nevertheless, the former special forces trainer Lee is determined to help. He has offered to travel to the front lines to speak with the soldiers directly.

” It’s unlikely they will defect in large numbers, but we have to try. Hearing familiar voices like mine, and others from North Korea, might impact their psychology”, he says.

Haneul merely desires that Kim and Kim return to North Korea. He is aware that there is a chance that some of his relatives will be among the troops sent to assist Russia.

” I just hope they make it through and come back safely.”

Jake Kwon and Hosu Lee provide additional reporting.