A North Korean defector has claimed that entire battalions of his countrymen in Ukraine could desert as soon as they reach the front line.
Hyun-Seung Lee, who served in the North Korean army in the 2000s, believes that troops deployed to help Putin’s illegal invasion will have been thinking about defection from the beginning.
He believes that this view will be enhanced as they begin to realise that their Russian comrades are using them as human shields.
Kim Jong Un is believed to have sent as many as 10,000 soldiers to aid Russia’s war effort, with his Storm Corps, the country’s equivalent of special forces, also deployed.
Lee told The Sun: “It will be individuals at first but more like as time passes, I think there’ll be like a larger number of group defections, including officers.
“Russian soldiers don’t respect them as their fellow warriors, they will treat them as their human shields.”
Any desertion could see soldiers’ families punished, with the regime known to use a guilty by association policy for maintaining domestic discipline.
Soldiers of a higher social standing could see their families punished even more severely if authorities believe their family member has deserted rather than been killed.
The troops are expected to be accompanied by a Worker’s Party political officer who will deliver hours of ideological training every day.
Of his own experiences, Lee said: “The main focus point is we have to sacrifice ourselves for the Kim family and the party, and the military.
“I would say, if Ukraine’s government conducts a psychological strategy against North Korean soldiers then the chances are really high [of defection] because they don’t have real motivation. It’s not for money, right? They are not getting paid.
“And obviously it’s [their motivation] not defending your country, and then your parents, and yourself. So it’s just that they are mobilised by the North Korean supreme commander Kim Jong-un.”
It remains unclear how the North Korean forces will be deployed, having undergone rudimentary training and been provided with kit and weapons by the Russians.
The two countries have no experience of operating together as a military force and it is unclear how effective the addition of combat inexperienced North Korean soldiers will be in a Russian battalion.
It is widely expected that the bulk of the 10,000 will join 40,000 Russian soldiers for deployment in the Kursk region, a portion of Russian territory snatched by Ukraine earlier this year.