North Korea has rarely admitted the presence of its troops in foreign battlefields, let alone in an ongoing conflict. However, in late April, it did just that.
North Korean chairman Kim Jong-un praised the “heroism and bravery” of the troops sent to Russia’s Kursk region to fight against “the sovereignty infringement committed by the Ukrainian authorities.” Kim also ordered a monument be built in the capital Pyongyang commemorating North Korea soldiers killed in the Russia-Ukraine War, a gesture that would elevate the status of these soldiers to the ranks of North Korean soldiers killed during the war of liberation from Japan and the Korean War.
Russia has also finally acknowledged the presence of North Korean troops on the battlefield. In seeking to explain why Pyongyang and Moscow have finally fessed up to North Korea’s participation in the fight, it was widely speculated this was done to legitimise Kim’s attendance at the Victory Day Parade in Moscow on 9 May. But Kim stayed home. Nor did it make sense to suggest that the acknowledgement was done to increase North Korea’s bargaining leverage vis-à-vis the United States, given that Washington has already admitted that any settlement to the war in Ukraine would have to address the issue of North Korean troops.
Kim’s motive for finally admitting this open secret has to do with domestic implications for North Korea itself from the fighting in Ukraine. North Korea’s military presence over the years in Egypt, Libya, Syria and Iran was far more limited in terms of scope and scale compared to its deployment to Russia. An estimated 5,000 casualties makes this war now North Korea’s third deadliest conflict. In the Vietnam war era, North Korea sent 1,000 soldiers to help North Vietnam and only suffered 14 deaths – and was able to wait until the year 2000 before officially acknowledging its participation. Concealing 5,000 casualties is much more difficult.
And unlike the Vietnam War, the internet and footage of North Korean troops participating in the war in Ukraine is increasingly widespread on social media, and POW accounts from captured North Koreans are publicly available. Even North Korea cannot totally insulate its population from the spread of outside information about its participation in the war. Rumours about the true number of casualties have spread in North Korea, and public discontent about a lack of transparency is growing.
The effort to reassure the public does send another, albeit unintentional, message, that there are limits to how much the North Korean government can extract from its population.
North Korea initially wanted to keep its population in the dark. The death certificates issued to families noted that these soldiers died during “combat training” without disclosing the location and circumstances of death. The military also tightened indoctrination among its ranks to prevent its poor treatment of killed soldiers from turning into an unrest. However, as Pyongyang plans to send more troops to the front, it can no longer ignore its domestic audience. Nor can it afford to stop sending troops altogether, considering the massive economic benefits that Russia has promised. By acknowledging that its troops are fighting in the war, North Korea aims to control the narrative about how it treats casualties and justify sending more troops to a distant conflict.
Both North Korea and Russia’s statements of acknowledgement praised the bravery of North Korean troops, yet remarkably did not condemn the United States. North Korea also granted families of the fallen soldiers the privilege of moving to Pyongyang to soothe their anger. And by elevating the soldiers’ status equal to those of past wars fought on North Korea soil, the government wants to affirm that it treats all soldiers that die for the state equally. Doing so will make it easier for the government to bring back its war dead without stoking unrest.
Kim stressed how these soldiers contributed to the Russia-North Korea friendship and framed the deployment as a response to Russia’s request. North Korean state media also published Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement of gratitude and claims that the North Korean troop deployment complied with international laws. At the Victory Day parade in Red Square, Putin embraced a North Korean general in charge of North Korean troops in Russia. Kim visited the Russian embassy in Pyongyang to tout the “long-standing” Russia-North Korea alliance. Kim linked the war in Ukraine to North Korea's frozen conflict with South Korea to justify sending North Korean troops abroad. Russian ambassador to North Korea Alexandr Matsegora promised to name the liberated “cities, villages, and squares” after North Korean heroes and dedicate a monument honouring North Korean troops.
But the effort to reassure the public does send another, albeit unintentional, message, that there are limits to how much the North Korean government can extract from its population. Future negotiations for a settlement of the war in Ukraine should start with the assumption that the domestic support for North Korean troops in Russia is not permanent.
