Rally for Russian troops’ withdrawal from Ukraine Protesters hold up banners demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, in Seoul on Feb. 25, 2023, a day after the one-year mark since the start of Moscow’s invasion of the neighboring country. (Yonhap)
According to this @The_Daily_NK report, North Korea is recruiting more workers to send to Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine but the first round of workers is still yet to leave. Workers are getting two-year passports but they could be extended. https://t.co/HhzetvFAks
South Korea has joined with the vast majority of the world to condemn Russia’s attempted annexation of territory within Ukraine:
This undated file photo, provided by Yonhap News TV, shows the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ building in central Seoul.
The South Korean government said Saturday it does not recognize Russia’s recent annexation of Ukrainian territory as legitimate while strongly condemning Moscow’s invasion of the eastern European country.
On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed treaties to annex four regions in Ukraine, following referendums in the territory late last month.
“The Korean government strongly condemns Russia’s armed invasion against Ukraine as a violation of the principles of the U.N. Charter,” foreign ministry spokesperson Lim Soo-suk said in a statement.
“The Korean government does not recognize the referenda held in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson and Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian territory as legitimate.”
You can read more at the link, but areas that Russia is claiming in this annexation have already been liberated by Ukraine. This includes Russia’s embarrassing defeat this weekend in the logistical hub of Lyman.
I highly recommend watching the entire news clip below of Russian propagandists trying to explain the defeat of their forces in Northeast Ukraine. In the clip the propagandists also make the case that North Korea should join Russia in an anti-Imperialist coalition against the west in Ukraine. I mentioned this before that it appears that the Russian propaganda apparatus is trying to will aid from North Korea into existence.
The Kim regime may be a lot of things, but they are not stupid. They will probably happily sell munitions to the Russians, but I don’t see them sending personnel and equipment in what is increasingly looking like a lost cause. The final statement from the show doesn’t exactly inspire confidence either, “Stalin called for ones who panic to be shot”.
Watch this roundup of clips, featuring panicked Kremlin propagandists on several state TV programs, discussing impressive gains by Ukraine's Armed Forces in reclaiming control over Ukrainian territory. More in my article ⤵️https://t.co/WKx3JVtvknpic.twitter.com/8CYDRpB85X
This is a nice troll response by the Ukraine Defense Ministry to news that the Russians are buying munitions from the North Koreans:
Russia has been forced to buy military hardware from North Korea as sanctions squeeze Moscow’s ability to supply its military, the US says.
A US official revealed Moscow is the process of purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells from Pyongyang for use in Ukraine.
And they said that Russia could be forced to buy additional North Korean weaponry as the war dragged on.
Buying from North Korea is a sign of “severe supply shortages”, they added.
The intelligence was first reported by the New York Times. Ukraine’s defence ministry tweeted a mocking response to the report, saying that it showed “Soviet weapons” had “exhausted their potential”.
The ministry said the while Ukraine was switching to Nato standards, Russia was heading in the direction of North Korean standards – be it in the field of “weapons, politics or standard of living”.
I do not see this many Soldiers being sent to fight in Ukraine by North Korea, but it appears that the Russian propaganda apparatus is trying to will this into existence:
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ride an escalator following their talks at the Far Eastern Federal University campus on Russky island in the far-eastern Russian port of Vladivostok on April 25, 2019. Media reports in August speculated that North Korea was prepared to send a “100,000 strong army of volunteers” to fight in Ukraine alongside the Russians.
Korotchenko does not cite the source for his claim, which he made in a Thursday, August 4 broadcast, and there does not appear to be any public announcement by Moscow or Pyongyang to support it.
While some Russian outlets have repeated his claims after they were picked up by national and international news outlets, the only earlier mention of such “offer” and the “100,000” figure appears on report by the Russian news agency REGNUM, which the EU has accused of spreading “aggressive and biased propagandist narratives against Ukraine, and to promote a positive attitude to the annexation of Crimea and the actions of separatists in Donbas.”
The article, dated August 2, cites a Russian MP, who referenced North Korea’s “offer” to help in a speech in the Duma.
You can read more at the link, but North Korea has not publicly commented on any of these claims. North Korea definitely has the manpower, but this could be a huge embarrassment for the Kim regime if the Soldiers do not perform well or even worse start defecting. The Russian army has already lost massive prestige by being smacked around by an inferior Ukrainian military.
Part of Kim Jong-un’s deterrence strategy is the prestige of having a massive military that provides a legitimate threat to South Korea. Losing in Ukraine and having a bunch of Soldiers defect takes away from that deterrence factor.
It looks like the Putin regime is looking for some cheap near slave labor to rebuild the areas they destroyed and occupied in Ukraine:
North Korea could send workers to two Russian-controlled territories in eastern Ukraine, according to Russia’s ambassador in Pyongyang – a move that would pose a challenge to international sanctions against the North’s nuclear weapons programme.
According to NK News, a Seoul-based website, ambassador Alexander Matsegora said North Korean workers could help rebuild the war-shattered infrastructure in the self-proclaimed people’s republics in Donetsk and Luhansk. (……..)
He told the Russian newspaper Izvestia in an interview, according to NK News, that “highly qualified and hard-working Korean builders, who are capable of working in the most difficult conditions, could help us restore our social, infrastructure and industrial facilities”.
You can read more at the link, but Russia has a long history of using North Korean near slave laborers which is also a lucrative money making enterprise for the Kim regime.
Objection to providing weapons to Ukraine Protestors from civic bodies stage a rally near the presidential office in Seoul on June 21, 2022, to call for South Korea not to provide weapons to Ukraine and to give humanitarian aid to the East European country amid the protracted Russia-Ukraine war. (Yonhap)
It will be interesting to see if South Korea agrees to this because they would indirectly be seen by Russia as supporting the Ukrainians with arms:
The South Korean government has been reviewing the export of artillery shells to Canada in a bid to help the country replenish its depleted weapons stocks sent to Ukraine.
Canada recently asked if South Korea is able to export 100,000 rounds of 155 mm artillery ammunition through a diplomatic channel, a South Korean senior official at the Defense Ministry confirmed to The Korea Herald on Monday.
The South Korean official said the government has not yet formally begun procedures to proceed with the export. But the military has been reviewing whether it is capable of supplying the artillery shells in light of its weapons stocks and readiness posture.
Canada made the request to fill up its ammunition stocks which have been exhausted due to its lethal aid to war-torn Ukraine, according to the official.
Hopefully Keun Rhee isn’t too seriously injured and is able to recover:
This undated photo captured from Rhee Keun’s YouTube channel, ROKSEAL, shows the Navy SEAL-turned-YouTuber (R) combating in Ukraine. (Yonhap)
A South Korean volunteer fighter in Ukraine was injured during a reconnaissance mission, his YouTube channel said Sunday.
Rhee Keun “recently incurred injuries while leading a special reconnaissance mission behind enemy lines. He has been transferred to a military hospital,” according to an English-language update posted on the YouTube channel ROKSEAL.
The YouTube channel did not provide any further details on Rhee’s condition.
The Navy SEAL-turned-YouTuber left for Ukraine in March to join the war against Russia in violation of a South Korean government ban.
