North Korean troops become cannon fodder for Russia

(FILES) In this file pool photograph taken on June 19, 2024 and distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walk during a farewell ceremony upon Putin's departure at the Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang. (Photo by Vladimir Smirnov / POOL / AFP)  (AFP)
(FILES) In this file pool photograph taken on June 19, 2024 and distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walk during a farewell ceremony upon Putin's departure at the Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang. (Photo by Vladimir Smirnov / POOL / AFP) (AFP)

Summary

A chance for Ukraine and Trump to set Putin back and drive a wedge between Pyongyang and Moscow.

North Korea's deployment of soldiers to the battlefield in Ukraine has been an operational disaster. Their troops have performed poorly in combat, failed to integrate with the Russian military, and suffered significant casualties. The debacle calls attention to a larger trend: the critical weaknesses of the axis of autocracies consisting of Russia, North Korea, China and Iran.

Many of the roughly 12,000 North Korean soldiers deployed to the war have been sent to Russia's Kursk Oblast, where Ukraine conducted a daring counteroffensive and seized Russian territory in August 2024. Although the forces deployed reportedly came from North Korea's elite Storms Corps, they're being used in a similar way as Russian prison units: for mine clearance and frontal assaults on fortified positions.

The combined North Korean-Russian forces have failed to take back significant territory in the face of a ferocious Ukrainian defense. The Ukrainian military has even seized additional territory around the Russian town of Sudzha. With distributed company-size attacks, Ukraine destroyed a battalion of North Korean and Russian soldiers. Ukraine effectively used electronic warfare, drone strikes, precision artillery and mechanized-infantry advances to inflict heavy casualties on the enemy. Battlefield footage confirms North Korea's ill-preparedness, showing disorganized retreats and valuable equipment left behind.

South Korean intelligence estimates that North Korea's forces have suffered around 3,000 casualties-a quarter of the fighting force. At least 300 have been killed. In many battles, such as one near the village of Plekhove, North Korean formations launched costly ‘meat assaults’ that consisted of human-wave attacks. Such casualties are astonishing. For comparison, this rate puts North Korean casualties nearly on par with one of the bloodiest battles of World War I, the Battle of the Somme.

Internal friction between North Korean and Russian forces, sparked by language barriers and insufficient training, is widely reported. In at least one case, these differences led to friendly fire when North Korean troops mistakenly attacked a convoy of Russian paramilitaries, killing eight soldiers.

The Kremlin's reliance on North Korean forces creates an opportunity for Ukraine. By targeting these vulnerable units, Ukrainian forces can erode Russian combat effectiveness while sowing discord within the axis's coalition. And they can create domestic problems for Vladimir Putin too: He acquired these foreign troops to avoid another mobilization. Destroying them will strip him of that luxury.

The Moscow-Pyongyang alliance extends beyond the front lines, however. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, North Korea has exported to Moscow several million artillery shells, short-range ballistic missiles and other munitions. In return, Moscow has supplied Pyongyang with advanced technology for satellites, air-defense equipment and millions of barrels of oil. There are even reports that North Korea plans to ask for nuclear technology from Russia. China and Iran have helped as well.

But the Trump administration can exploit these growing relationships too. By highlighting Mr. Putin's treatment of North Korea's troops as mere cannon fodder, Donald Trump can drive a wedge between Moscow and Pyongyang. The administration should also push back on the false narrative that the axis of Russia, North Korea, China and Iran is on the ascendancy. The North Korean failure in Russia, combined with the fall of Iran's proxies in Syria, Lebanon and Gaza, points to the axis' weakness.

As the failure of North Korea's troops in Russia shows, coalition warfare requires more than ideological alignment. It requires shared operational capabilities and mutual trust-elements conspicuously absent in the Russia-North Korea partnership. If Ukraine and President Trump can continue to exploit these problems, then they can keep the axis on its heels.

Mr. Jones is president of the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Mr. Jensen is a senior fellow for the department's Futures Lab and a professor at the Marine Corps University School of Advanced Warfighting.

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