The fake story about mass supplies of North Korean shells to the Russian Federation is being replaced by a new wave of fake news that soldiers of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) are already fighting in the SMO in Ukraine.
Fake content
Here we are talking about Kyiv Post article, which “with reference to intelligence sources” reported that on October 3, as a result of a Ukrainian missile strike near Donetsk, six North Korean officers were killed and three more were injured.
The head of the ‘Centre for Countering Disinformation’ at the National Security Council of Ukraine Kovalenko also claimed that DPRK has already sent a limited number of its military men and that some of them had already died.
According to him, these are mainly engineering troops overseeing the quality and use of Pyongyang’s weapons by the Russian army.
On October 8, 2024, the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Korea (ROK), Kim Yong-hyun, stated that the report on the losses of North Korean servicemen was probably true. Moreover, North Korea will likely send its troops to Ukraine as a sign of deepening military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow. “Since Russia and North Korea have signed a mutual agreement similar to a military alliance, the possibility of such a deployment is very likely”. The head of the ROK Office of National Security, Shin Won-sik, also noted that “a definite confirmation is inappropriate, but there is such a possibility”.
Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh was less categorical: “I have not seen these reports. That is why I cannot confirm it.… As for the support of Russia, we have certainly seen that North Korea is ready to support Russia militarily. This is something that we continue to monitor”.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that he had no estimates regarding the possibility of Pyongyang sending its regular troops to Ukraine. However, if the reports are true, they indicate the “deep” despair of Russia, seeking to enlist outside support in its war in Ukraine.
Exposing the lies
Officially, the death of North Koreans or their being in Ukraine has not been confirmed, but for supporters of this version this serves only as a confirmation of it, as ‘the authorities are hiding it’. Nevertheless, the author has an answer.
Firstly, this kind of news would have left its mark in the Russian information field –and we are not talking about official or pro-government resources, but about the so-called ‘patriots’ who actively promote any hints of military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang against Kiev. When a police officer and Russian Korean visiting the SMO zone was previously presented as ‘North Korean special forces are already at work’, then information about the arrival of such a group and/or a strike on it would result in a series of publications on social networks and not only.
Secondly, Russian-speaking journalist Yevgeny Stefan, living in ROK and who is himself known among expats to be pro-Ukrainian, conducted an analysis of news sources. The article in the Kyiv Post in question refers to both anonymous ‘intelligence sources’ and ‘Russian social networks’, or rather, the telegram channel ‘Kremlin Snuffbox’, the post of which completely repeats the text of the Kyiv Post. From this, Stefan concludes that the Kremlin Snuffbox was the Kyiv Post’s only source and that they simply invented the ‘intelligence’. However, this channel posts exclusively ‘acute negativity of the Russian reality’ and, in the opinion of Stefan, who, let us recall, is not a pro-Russian author in any sense, is not a valid source.
Thirdly, on October 10, 2024, TASS quoted presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying: “This looks like another batch of fake news”.
Role of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty
Separately and repeatedly, we must explain that the minister is mistaken in believing that a military alliance will lead to the KPA’s participation in Ukraine. Yes, on June 19, North Korea and Russia signed a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty, which provides for mutual assistance in the event of aggression against any of the countries. According to Article 4 of the Treaty, “if one of the parties finds itself in a state of war due to an armed attack by one or more states, the other party will immediately provide military assistance to it with all the means available to it”. However, it is clearly stated that comprehensive assistance is provided in a state of war, which does not apply to every armed conflict (the SMO is therefore called a special military operation and nobody has declared war), despite the fact that Article 3 assumes mandatory consultations in the event of a threat of conflict. This means that Pyongyang must coordinate its actions with Moscow to a greater extent than previously.
Why does the author not believe in the possibility of this kind of assistance?
Here the author must also repeat himself: firstly, the appearance of a foreign contingent will cause numerous managerial, logistical and language problems.
Secondly, the internationalisation of the war will be perceived by Russian public opinion as the final proof that Putin does not have enough forces of his own to win in Ukraine.
Thirdly, in addition to the fact that reputational damage will, of course, be employed in propaganda, the internationalisation of the war from the Russian side opens up a similar opportunity for the enemy, after which an equally large contingent of representatives of NATO countries may appear in response, which will greatly increase the degree of tension.
Fourth, despite the fact that the DPRK formally has the fourth-strongest army in the world, in the context of a fierce inter-Korean confrontation, its mobilisation resources are limited.
Fifth, this would affect the situation in East Asia and provoke a greater round of tension, at least because the DPRK’s participation in the Ukrainian conflict would become a reason for the United States and its allies to take retaliatory action, from additional stigmatisation of the PRC and Russia to the final justification of Asian NATO or the spread of NATO to the East. With the appearance of the KPA in the zone of the SMO, the North Korean threat to the world could be easily positioned as global and, in turn, requiring a global response.
Konstantin Asmolov, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Leading research fellow at the Centre for Korean Studies, part of the China and Modern Asia Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”
