North Korea may have sent thousands more troops to make up for huge losses, ambassador says
North Korean forces in Ukraine are rapidly evolving and absorbing Russian tactics and expertise, raising fears their involvement in the war could upset the military balance on and around the Korean Peninsula, according to the Ukrainian ambassador to South Korea, Dmytro Ponomarenko.
Ponomarenko met with The Korea Herald for an interview ahead of the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 at the Ukrainian Embassy in Itaewon, Seoul.
The ambassador said North Korea was taking part in Russia's war on Ukraine as an opportunity for its forces to gain experience in the workings of modern warfare.
North Korean officers in the higher ranks of the military — unlike infantry soldiers, who are being treated as expendable — were "actively learning how to play and plan a war," he said.
"It was apparent at first that North Korean military personnel arrived unprepared when they first entered the battlefields. They suffered huge losses, based on Ukraine's intelligence, which indicates that they were not trained for modern, high-tech warfare," the ambassador said.
"But now we see that they are adapting and learning, absorbing critical military knowledge and combat tactics, drone warfare strategies, battlefield survival skills."
Fighting along the Kursk front in western Russia, North Korean soldiers were mainly engaging in "offensive, rather than defensive" operations, the ambassador said, learning how to navigate drone attacks and move under heavy shelling.
"The skills they acquired in Ukraine will be taken to North Korea and integrated into their military. The resulting consequences will be a big military threat to the region," he said.
The ambassador said Ukrainian authorities believe that within half a year, North Korean soldiers could be well-trained enough to tip the balance on the Kursk battlefields. North Korean soldiers were characterized by "very unpredictable, aggressive techniques," he said.
Ukrainian intelligence suggests about one-third of some 12,000 North Korean soldiers who joined the war have been killed or seriously wounded, but this far exceeds the estimate by South Korea's intelligence service.
"As the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself has mentioned around 4,000 North Korean military personnel are either dead or wounded. That is almost an entire brigade completely destroyed," the ambassador said.
Ponomarenko said he believed Ukraine's estimate of 4,000 was likely closer to the actual figure than South Korea's estimate of 300 killed and 2,700 injured.
"Your (South Korea's) intelligence service said about 300 North Korean soldiers are believed to have been killed as of January," he said. "But we know that from mid-January to the beginning of February, North Korea pulled its troops from the front lines of the battle because of huge casualties."
Ponomarenko said Ukrainian authorities believe North Korea could have sent 3,000 to 4,000 more soldiers to the Kursk region to replenish its ranks. "We understand their presence in Kursk to be in large numbers. So it's possible that there has been an additional dispatch to make up for the losses," he said.
Ukrainian intelligence has also said that North Korean soldiers who are wounded are known to kill themselves apparently to avoid being taken prisoner, according to Ponomarenko.
Two North Korean soldiers who were captured in January were still under investigation by the Ukrainian Intelligence Service, which is analyzing the information it received from the captives, the ambassador added.
"For the time being, the process of the investigation is going slowly because both of them are badly wounded," he said. One could not speak from jaw injuries, and the other suffered injuries to his arms and legs.
Ponomarenko said the North Korean prisoners were not being recognized by North Korea or Russia, which are refusing to admit to the presence of North Korean troops on the battlefields.
"We have let them know that they are entitled to their rights. We are treating them according to the Geneva Conventions. They can ask to return to their country or seek asylum in Ukraine or a third country," he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last month on the social platform X that North Korean soldiers who do not want to be repatriated can be given "other options."
Ponomarenko said Ukrainian and South Korean intelligence agencies were in close contact, working together to fill the gaps that each side misses.
"We are more proficient and experienced, and have more resources to collect intelligence from Kursk. You are following the developments of exchanges between Russia and North Korea across their borders," he said. "Our two intelligence agencies are cooperating and exchanging information."
On Russia reportedly sending its soldiers to North Korea for medical treatment, the Ukrainian ambassador said he believes there could be ulterior motives on Russia's part.
Alexander Matsegora, the Russian ambassador in Pyongyang, told the Russian state-run outlet Rossiyskaya Gazeta earlier this month that "hundreds" of Russia's wounded soldiers were recovering in North Korea.
"I wouldn't be surprised if Russian officers were sent to North Korea as instructors, to share combat techniques in modern conditions, under the pretext of receiving medical care and rehabilitation," Ponomarenko said.
But he said the number would be "dozens, maybe, at most. Definitely not hundreds." "North Korea's medical services are also of controversial quality. I doubt that North Korea is able to provide the necessary treatment," he said.
As for the Russian envoy in Pyongyang, Matsegora, saying the US approach to denuclearizing North Korea was no longer relevant, Ponomarenko said Russia would stand to benefit from North Korea attaining recognition as a nuclear state, which the Ukrainian ambassador said was highly improbable.
Ponomarenko declined to comment on earlier reports out of the US that South Korea supplied more artillery shells to Ukraine than all of Europe combined.
Over the years, the official stance taken by South Korea was that it would mainly focus non-lethal aid such as construction vehicles and demining machines, which are "vital for Ukraine," he said.
The ambassador suggested defensive ammunition could be provided from the perspective of humanitarian aid.
"We understand it is difficult for South Korea to supply us with lethal ammunition," he said. "But defensive ammunition such as anti-missile and anti-drone equipment will help keep our civilians safe."
On the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea slashing this year's budget for Ukraine aid by half at the year-end parliamentary review in December, Ponomarenko asked for lawmakers to reconsider.
Ponomarenko said Ukraine was grateful to the South Korean people and leadership for upholding a strong position in support of Ukraine.
A delegation of Ukrainian activists, led by Alyona Getmanchuk, who was appointed by Zelenskyy to head Ukraine's mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is making an advocacy visit to Seoul from Saturday to mark the anniversary of the Russian invasion.
arin@heraldcorp.com
