North Korea to send engineering troops to occupied territories of Ukraine – TV Chosun

North Korea will send military construction and engineering forces to participate in "reconstruction works" in occupied Donetsk Oblast as early as July 2024.

Source: South Korean TV network TV Chosun; Institute for the Study of War (ISW)

Details: TV Chosun reported on 21 June, citing a South Korean government official, that South Korea anticipates North Korea will deploy a large-scale engineering force to occupied Donetsk Oblast as early as July 2024 to assist in rebuilding infrastructure in the occupied city of Donetsk.

According to the report, the North Korean military operates 10 engineering brigades and TV Chosun estimated that deploying three or four of these brigades to occupied parts of Ukraine could earn North Korea up to US$115 million annually in unspecified foreign currency from Russia.

ISW pointed out that Russia seems to be fostering a coalition of friendly states with historically close ties to the Soviet Union, such as North Korea and Vietnam, to support the basis of an alternative world order.

While ISW has not seen any reports suggesting that North Korean military personnel intend to engage in combat operations in Ukraine, it did note that North Korean engineering support could allow Russian combat forces to focus on frontline operations and help expand military infrastructure and defensive fortifications in occupied parts of Ukraine.

Background: 

• NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the agreement between Russia and the DPRK demonstrated the growing coherence between authoritarian states and underlined the importance of democracies speaking with one voice.
• The Biden administration said that Putin's meeting with Kim Jong Un demonstrated Moscow's desire to build a coalition with North Korea, Iran, Syria and, to some extent, China.
• The agreement signed by Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday, 19 June obliges each side to provide immediate military assistance to the other in the event of armed aggression against one of them.
• The Pentagon believes that the North Korean troops in Ukraine will become cannon fodder.

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