North Korea in Ukraine conflict???

I can't seem to wrap my head around North Korean troops being sent to Ukraine to bolster Russian forces. Okay, Russia is paying North Korea for these troops (about $2,200 per month per troop), so this may explain 'part' of North Korea's interest in the deal (✔️). North Korea would also gain access to Russian weapons systems (✔️). And, North Korea gains combat experience (✔️).

Okay, so I "get" all that. But what I don't get, and can't understand is...what keeps the North Korean troops from defecting, or just going AWOL? At the boot level, the individual NK soldier benefits very little, other than one big, absolutely HUGE, thing...they get to leave their oppressive homeland in NK! Depending on how much technology and tactics Russia shares with the Norks, this means both the North Koreans AND the Russian soldiers are a huge liability to Russia if they defect. Additionally, the North Korean troops, despite all their training, have zero actual combat experience, they don't speak any of the languages, and they're in completely unfamiliar terrain 4,500 miles away from North Korea. If they get pinned down, they've got no reinforcements from North Korea and are 100% reliant on the Russians to save their bacon, but they can't even fully communicate their issues.

I just can't wrap my head around how any of this works for the North Koreans. Sure, it's a 'body count' for Putin, and it's money for fat boy Kim, but that's where it ends. Down at the troop level, there's no incentive to fight, but every incentive to surrender and defect to Ukraine.

What am I missing here?

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I just can't wrap my head around how any of this works for the North Koreans.

Cheap oil and missile technology is my guess , oh and being mates with a big boy.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk


I thought about this, and I figured they were told that their family's would be killed if they defected

a reply to: Ravenwatcher

Well, that's pretty much standard operating procedure for about anyone in NK. So, nothing new there. The difference here is, these guys are on a much longer leash than they are in North Korea. Add to that a battlefield environment where someone can disappear and nobody knows what happened to them (i.e. KIA, captured, MIA, defected, ?)

a reply to: Ravenwatcher

I think you may be right.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Maybe, chipped, like my cat is? Not to stop Carl defecting, though.

originally posted by: Oldcarpy2
a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Maybe, chipped, like my cat is? Not to stop Carl defecting, though.

Carl probably eats better than the average North Korean.

a reply to: BedevereTheWise

He certainly can eat!

a reply to: gortex

Both true, and there's probably other commodity / military benefits for NK. So then, the soldiers truly are just "cannon fodder"

And really, that was kind of the foundation of my question in the OP. How can you view any of these Nork troops as anything other than (dead) body count. Human bargaining chips, with really bad odds of survival, no support and almost certain death. Just real life pawns.

I'll never forget something my father told me once. He told a story about how he was sitting in a mission briefing on June 5th 1944 at Ridgewell Field in England where he was based. He was in the 8th 381st Bombardment Group Heavy (B-17's). It was the evening before the Normandy Invasion (D-Day). He said at the end of the briefing the USAAF General giving the briefing said the underpinning strategy of the D-Day invasions was...'to simply put more forces on the beaches of Normandy than the Germans had bullets and ammunition to shoot.'

That chilling statement has stuck with me all my life. It was so blunt, and so real. Oddly enough, the statement was intended to be a motivational statement. Of course they never told the Infantry and Paratroop units that, but they told all the Air Crews. The idea was, the ground losses would be so unimaginable that the bombardment and fighter crews would stay in the fight until their last drop of fuel, or until they were shot down...and it turned out to be true.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Both true, and there's probably other commodity / military benefits for NK. So then, the soldiers truly are just "cannon fodder"

From what I've read that seems the case , there are reports of the Russian troops having problems communicating with them and one report of the DPRK troops firing in the wrong direction at the Russian troops.

As far as I'm aware most of them are in the Kursk region trying to regain that.

From what I've read, the Russian front line troops don't want them there, as they have the lack of experience, and not being able to communicate as they have 1 interpreter per 30 NK troops.
The Russians are just using them as cannon fodder.
Meat shields.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: gortex

Both true, and there's probably other commodity / military benefits for NK. So then, the soldiers truly are just "cannon fodder"

And really, that was kind of the foundation of my question in the OP. How can you view any of these Nork troops as anything other than (dead) body count. Human bargaining chips, with really bad odds of survival, no support and almost certain death. Just real life pawns.

I'll never forget something my father told me once. He told a story about how he was sitting in a mission briefing on June 5th 1944 at Ridgewell Field in England where he was based. He was in the 8th 381st Bombardment Group Heavy (B-17's). It was the evening before the Normandy Invasion (D-Day). He said at the end of the briefing the USAAF General giving the briefing said the underpinning strategy of the D-Day invasions was...'to simply put more forces on the beaches of Normandy than the Germans had bullets and ammunition to shoot.'

That chilling statement has stuck with me all my life. It was so blunt, and so real. Oddly enough, the statement was intended to be a motivational statement. Of course they never told the Infantry and Paratroop units that, but they told all the Air Crews. The idea was, the ground losses would be so unimaginable that the bombardment and fighter crews would stay in the fight until their last drop of fuel, or until they were shot down...and it turned out to be true.

If they have family and they defect, family is going to pay severely for their actions. All the family as far down as cousins sometimes are relieved of being able to provide economically, they’re sent to harsh labor camps and monitored 24/7 where they most often die of hunger. I’ve read about a few of these cases and it’s horrific what they do. It’s a fairly good deterrent to defectors.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Stab in the dark Putins giving away nuclear secrets and technologies for cannon fodder.

And i think thats about it.

Same with the Iranians.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk

Okay, so I "get" all that. But what I don't get, and can't understand is...what keeps the North Korean troops from defecting, or just going AWOL?

Stuff like this…. Which Russia has a history of.

In the Red Army of the Russian SFSR and later the Soviet Union, the concept of barrier troops first arose in August 1918 with the formation of the заградительные отряды (zagraditelnye otriady), translated as "blocking troops" or "anti-retreat detachments" (Russian: заградотряды, заградительные отряды, отряды заграждения).[3] The barrier troops comprised personnel drawn from the Cheka secret police punitive detachments or from regular Red Army infantry regiments.


en.m.wikipedia.org...

a reply to: Lazy88

Out of the frying pan, into the fire? 😔

Possibly just to turn-up the heat in another sensitive area. ( NK VS SK ? )

From a different perspective : when a peace-treaty comes, NORKO may now be included, and need to make concessions.
Such as opening the door to western scumbagery, BIS, WEF, etc ...

originally posted by: BedevereTheWise

originally posted by: Oldcarpy2
a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Maybe, chipped, like my cat is? Not to stop Carl defecting, though.

Carl probably eats better than the average North Korean.

The average North Korean would probably eat Carl.

First a question from the Russian perspective. Why does Putin want NK troops, because he has more than enough of his own? Exactly the same answer of why Zelenski has been trying his hardest to get NATO into the conflict. Because it's always better to get other people to die for your cause than your own countrymen.
Now in answer (well it could be an answer) to your question. Proven psychology. Why did the ordinary Japanese soldier in WW2 "sacrifice" themselves in Banzai charges and the Kamikaze pilots? Why do Muslims willingly blow themselves up with body bombs? The answer to all of these including NK soldiers is they actually BELIEVE what they are doing is justified. Brain washing/indoctrination/ radicalisation whatever label you want to put on it.

a reply to: CarlLaFong

Carl would probably eat the average North Korean.

He's a double hard thug.