WATCH: Reports surfacing of North Korea sending teens to Russia’s front lines

North Korea is not preparing to send its most elite and experienced soldiers to Russia in its fight against Ukraine, and is instead deploying new military recruits to the Russian front lines.

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, available footage and intelligence analysis suggests North Korea is sending soldiers in their teens and early 20s, with experts noting the soldiers appear to be short and not as physically fit as you would expect from troops being sent to war.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed last week that 3,000 North Korean troops were already in Russia, and another 7,000 were still yet to be deployed.

Austin met with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-kyun Wednesday, and assured him the U.S. is ready and fully committed to the defense of the Republic of Korea, including the use of nuclear weapons.

“I am increasingly concerned that the Kremlin plans to use these North Korean soldiers to support Russia’s combat operations in Russia’s Kursk region near the border with Ukraine … Turning to a pariah state like North Korea for troops just underscores how much trouble he [Putin] is in,” Austin said.

The Pentagon urged Russia to change course, reiterating its awareness of the security implications in both Europe and the Indo-Pacific region caused by the Russia-North Korea alliance. Austin noted the U.S. is an ally of South Korea, and is prepared to use what is necessary to secure stability.

“This includes conventional missile defense, nuclear and advanced non-nuclear forces and means. We have also returned to large-scale exercises with our allies from the Republic of Korea. This enhances our joint readiness and operational interoperability,” Austin said.

Video: North Korean soldiers in #Russia preparing to enter the war with Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/qzMc2qXow1

— Emeka Gift Official (@EmekaGift100) October 25, 2024

During an interview with Radio Free Asia, Tae Yong Ho, Secretary General of South Korea’s Unification Advisory Council and former North Korean Deputy Ambassador to the U.K. detailed why Pyongyang is backing Russia.

Tae defected to South Korea in 2016 with his family, becoming a National Assembly member in South Korea just four short years later. Tae said when he watched the footage of North Korea soldiers in Russia, he questioned whether they were real troops because in his opinion they looked “shabby.”

“When I first saw that video file, I wondered whether they are North Korean soldiers or not because they seemed very shabby,” Tae said, noting the North Korean soldiers looked much smaller than their Russian counterparts.

“They look very much malnourished, they look very hungry. But later on many intelligence agencies worldwide confirmed that they are really North Korean soldiers … I was almost shocked because during my days in North Korea, I was educated that North Korean soldiers would not fight for the interest of the other country.”

Tae said the next few weeks and months will be a very crucial moment in the future of North Korea, and noted North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un will be calculating how much foreign currency he is able to get from sending soldiers to Russia.

North Korea has ambitions of using Russia’s technology to advance its own weapons programs, according to Tae, and Kim wants to become a bigger player on the world stage.

“So North Korea is desperate to get their satellite technologies … Kim Jong Un wants to play a kind of role as a game changer in world politics. It is proof that North Korea can make a kind of new change in Ukraine war by sending its soldiers,” Tae noted.

Tae stated the outcomes over the next few months will not only be important for North Korea, but also for world security overall, including the U.S., and further added North Korea and Russia have been ignoring sanctions imposed by the United Nations.

There was speculation on how current North Korean diplomats may be reacting to the soldiers being sent to Russia, with Tae stating they were likely surprised and possibly angry because the soldiers are being sent to the Ukraine war to be sacrificed for Kim’s regime.

“They were sent to Ukraine to fight against Ukraine war, and Ukraine people, and now they are forced to kill Ukraine people and Ukraine children. So, actually, Kim Jong Un is making these North Korean soldiers guilty of a humanitarian crime,” Tae stressed, further noting diplomats are not able to voice concerns against Kim’s decisions.

Being a dictatorship, North Korean citizens and diplomats are expected to follow instructions from their leader without question.

“North Korea is a dictatorship country,” Tae said, adding if a person dissents they “could immediately become the subject of persecution or even public shooting. So, unless you defect, like me, you can’t say anything against North Korean policies.”

According to the South China Morning Post, over 200 North Korean soldiers who defected to South Korea, are looking to wage psychological warfare against their ex-comrades by joining the Ukraine side’s fight against Russia. Some are even asking North Korean soldiers already deployed, to not fight for Kim’s regime, with Ukraine also offering refuge.

Wow!

A defector from the North Korean People’s Army has called on North Koreans sent to the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield not to fight for Kim Jong Un.

War is also a double-edged sword. It can work both ways.

This can happen to the CCP too if they choose to attack Taiwan. https://t.co/mcV5p94ubL pic.twitter.com/H1ci0r95Rn

— Inconvenient Truths by Jennifer Zeng (@jenniferzeng97) October 28, 2024

“Ukraine offers bed and hot food to North Korean troops if they defect from war” – Daily Express US #SmartNews https://t.co/Wl7Zdc9dFj

— Therese: its time for the ERA. NOW. (@tmcresanti) October 30, 2024