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North Korean soldiers sent to help Russia in Ukraine would be ‘cannon fodder’, the Pentagon said.
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The two countries have signed a new security pact and it appears that some Korean units will leave for Ukraine.
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Russia is known for treating its soldiers as very disposable and suffers from a high death toll.
North Korean troops sent to Ukraine to help in Russia’s war would become “cannon fodder,” the Pentagon said.
Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Tuesday: “I think if I were North Korea’s military personnel management, I would question my choices to send my troops as cannon fodder in an illegal war against Ukraine. “
Ryder was responding to a question about North Korea possibly sending military engineering units to Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, which is occupied by Russia.
North Korea plans to send construction and engineering troops to occupied Ukraine next month for reconstruction work, according to South Korean TV Chosun, citing a South Korean government official and citing Reuters.
Earlier this month, Russia and North Korea signed a pact in which they agreed to provide each other with military assistance if the other is attacked.
Countries including the US and Japan condemned the move, with South Korea saying it was considering sending weapons to Ukraine as a result. South Korea’s president called the pact a threat to his country’s security.
Ryder described North Korea possibly sending military forces to Russia as “certainly something to keep an eye on,” and alluded to the high number of Russian casualties during the war.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense said in late May that the total number of Russian soldiers killed or injured since February 2022 was around 500,000.
It also said the average daily number of Russian personnel casualties in May was more than 1,200.
Russia is known for treating its own troops as very disposable.
This includes the use of “flesh wave” tactics, in which waves of poorly trained and unsupported soldiers are sent into Ukrainian positions in an attempt to overwhelm them.
A Russian soldier planning offensives said this month to send men forward knowing they will likely die, but not telling them how low their chances of survival are.
“I can’t tell the guys, otherwise they wouldn’t fight hoping to win,” he said.
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