North Korea is considered to be one of the most totalitarian autocracies today. A hyper-militarized society, the DPRK focuses much of its state funds on its military in preparations for a renewed full-scale war with South Korea, America, and their allies in East Asia.
Kim Jong Un, arguably North Korea’s most radical leader, is putting his hermit kingdom on a path to war footing that is now intertwining with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sending tens of thousands of tons of military equipment and personnel toward Russia’s near eleven-year invasion now is the time for even more increased American and South Korean military support towards Ukraine.
North Korea’s Relations with Russia
The Soviet Union, the predecessor of the Russian Federation, partitioned the Korean Peninsula alongside the Americans after WWII. The Kremlin propped up the Kim dynasty as Kim Il Sung fought with the Red Army.
During the Korean War, North Korea’s invasion was supported by the USSR, and the Kremlin sent various weapons and advisors. Josef Stalin, the infamous Soviet dictator, also deported tens of thousands of Koreans.
Under the protection of the Soviet Union’s and later Russian Federation’s United Nations veto, North Korea continued to be a major belligerent authoritarian state with numerous human rights violations. Likewise, North Korea is one of the handful of states that support Russia’s illegal annexations of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Luhansk, and Donetsk oblasts.
Increased Military and Direct Support for Russia in Ukraine
In late 2022, the White House initially reported that the Kremlin-created and funded Wagner Group was attempting to procure artillery shells from North Korea, which Moscow and Pyongyang denied. However, North Korea and Russia will continue to increase their bilateral ties.
2023 saw a joint summit between Pyongyang and Moscow in which increased support from the Kim regime for Russia’s war effort. Over 7,000 tons of military equipment, including over 1 million artillery shells, were delivered to Russian forces in Ukraine.
Currently, as of late 2024, upwards of 5 million North Korean artillery shells have been sent to Russia. Though older and having a high dud rate, shells from North Korea are effective in masking and giving cover to Russian assault teams as Russia has made gains in Ukraine’s Donetsk oblast this past year.
In October 2024, North Korea’s military support for Russia would become even more apparent as troops from the DPRK were killed by Ukrainian artillery in the Donetsk oblast. The Ukrainian government and the army intelligence estimate several thousand North Korean troops are already in the occupied areas and could be deployed to the front lines towards the end of the year.
A Growing Korean Proxy Conflict
The problematic intervention of the DPRK is no surprise, as North Korea’s hereditary kleptocracy is ideologically opposed to any country or action backed by the United States and South Korea. With America, South Korea, and Japan backing Ukraine, North Korea looks to turn the war-battered country in a Korean proxy conflict.
In regard to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, North Korea has become the biggest backer of artillery shells and systems to the Russian military as Vladimir Putin exacerbated the rhetoric of fighting the collective Western world order. Likewise, South Korea is a major backer of Ukraine’s fight against imperialism, supplying the second-highest number of artillery shells to the war-battered country nation in 2023.
Against the backdrop of a recent mutual defense agreement between Pyongyang and Moscow, Seoul stated it would consider increased military support to Kyiv if further provocations continued as Putin became the biggest enabler of the Kim regime.
Why Pyongyang’s Intervention Means Washington and Seoul Should Step Up
North Korea’s direct intervention in Ukraine is not only a red line on current United Nations Security Council sanctions and the arms embargo but an indirect declaration of renewed hostilities stemming from the Korean War Armistice.
Vladimir Putin’s “multipolar world” rhetoric was not just aimed at whitewashing his country’s imperial irredentist, but a way to reach out to potential states that could sympathize and ally with Russia—which North Korea answered the call.
Against the backdrop of the Korean War Armistice, international efforts were made to prevent the DPRK from being an expeditionary force and nuclear-armed state. The latter efforts failed in the early 90s.
The DPRK’s intervention is not only a threat to Ukraine but a future message and threat to South Korea and American forces in the Indo-Pacific. Pyongyang recently reneged on all efforts of peace with Seoul, and the Kim regime has ordered a reconstitution of DPRK forces.
Along with the disengagement of peace talks, the Kim regime continues missile launches. One could argue the main reason for North Korea’s intervention is that Pyongyang wants full combat data and experience for their soldiers in preparation for renewed hostilities in the Korean Peninsula.
Greater American and South Korean military support is needed more than ever, not just to contain the North but also because Washington’s “escalation management” policy has completely faltered in world politics.
In an attempt to slow the trickle of military aid in hopes Russia wouldn’t escalate, Russian forces continue to do so, with 2024 being the highest number of executions of Ukrainian POWs to date. Likewise, not only has North Korea intervened in the invasion, but Iran has sent thousands of Shahed drones and an undisclosed number of ballistic missiles.
Fear of escalation has only led to more provocations by the Russian-led Axis. Because of this, unless the US increases military support, not only will adversaries continue to be emboldened, but America will lose faith in its allies, who will see Washington as an unreliable partner.
Direct intervention by North Korea increasingly shows why the Russian invasion of Ukraine should not be ignored. The war shows how the world ignored a ‘minor’ incursion by Russian forces and continued to appease Moscow, which inevitably led to a full-scale invasion and now a growingly global intertwining conflict that continues to spill over to East Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa.
About the Author: Julian McBride
Julian McBride is a forensic anthropologist, SOFREP contributor, and independent journalist born in New York. He reports and documents the plight of people around the world who are affected by conflicts, rogue geopolitics, and war, and also tells the stories of war victims whose voices are never heard. Julian is the founder and director of the Reflections of War Initiative (ROW), an anthropological NGO which aims to tell the stories of the victims of war through art therapy. As a former Marine, he uses this technique not only to help heal PTSD but also to share people’s stories through art, which conveys “the message of the brutality of war better than most news organizations.” McBride is also a Contributing Editor to this publication.
Zhduny
October 16, 2024 at 4:08 pm
Koreans helping Moscow to invade Ukraine is a big myth whipped by the great goebbellian machine in Kyiv.
What people aren’t aware when swallowing that big goebbellian myth is that today Ukraine has already invaded Russia’s Kursk region with the help of polish, french and UK military recruits and generous supply of western armor.
So, now, the malicious myth has become cannon fodder for Joe biden and his minions in Seoul to use to provoke north Korea in order to ignite a coming war in a third place after Ukraine and the middle east.
That’s why putin has said that any war against north Korea must see Moscow providing swift assistance to defend the country.
That’s going to repeat events after the infamous Inchon landings.
After macArthur made his Inchon landing, he forcefully barrelled all the way up north and ignored repeated warnings not to reach or approach the yalu river.
The result was a big send off or great bugout or big kick in the behind for both macArthur and his ‘UN’ force.
Thus a big big massive bang in the behind soon awaits joe biden and his loyal minions in Seoul.