North Korea may refuse to provide troops to help Russia - ISW

Russia's involvement of the DPRK army in the war against Ukraine could lead to a high level of losses among the North Korean military. Therefore, the troops of the Asian allies are unlikely to be able to fully compensate for the losses of Russian personnel.

This is reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

The report notes that on November 1, a meeting was held in Moscow between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Foreign Minister Cho Song-hui.

During the dialogue, the North Korean side secured strong guarantees of the Kremlin's support against the backdrop of its military deployment in Russia. Cho also noted that dictator Kim Jong-un had instructed to support Russia's “holy war” against Ukraine until victory.

The Institute for the Study of War drew attention to Cho's reference to the concept of a “holy war.” The analysts recalled that the Russian Orthodox Church used parallel rhetoric to justify Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine as an existential and civilizational struggle, which North Korea has now voluntarily joined.

Author - Dmitriy Levchenko, 04/11/2024