Ukraine - North Korean Soldiers Are "Disguised As Buryats"
The story of North Korean soldiers who are allegedly fighting for Russia against Ukraine continues to evolved.
There are now supposedly some 11,000 or 12,000 North Korean soldiers in the Russian Kursk region. They are, supposedly, getting ready to fight against the Ukrainian incursion forces on Russian ground.
I continue to believe that the whole story about North Korean soldiers in Russia is bovine excrement.
As I had written two weeks ago:
Ukraine - Threat Of North Korean Soldiers Is Based on U.S. Info Campaign
Shortly after RAND proposed a U.S. information operation campaign around the theme of North Korean soldiers in Russia the Ukrainian military intelligence service under CIA trainee Budanov started to spread rumors of North Korean soldiers soon to fight on the Russian side. The numbers claimed by Budanov have since steadily increased. South Korean intelligence, also associated with the CIA, and U.S. media have joined the campaign. The chair of the House Intelligence Committee is milking the campaign to make political points.Evidence that was supposed to support the claims has been exposed as being fake. The whole story is thus based on nothing but 'intelligence' rumors which are following a RAND proposed script. Don't fall for it.
Since then new fake news items about the 'North Korean soldiers' have been added each and every day. The numbers have grown bigger. The 'North Koreans' have come more near to Ukraine. Warnings are coming from more and more officials and places.
I have been wondering if and how the people who have spread this nonsense would finally produce evidence for it.
I first though that this would be handled like the fake reports about an Iranian missile transfer to Russia. Such a transfer never happened but Iranian civilian airlines got sanctioned over it. Since then no new reports about any such missile transfers came out. It had been a pure 'information operation', which had used false assertions from anonymous 'officials', that had achieved its purpose.
But there is nothing left to sanction about North Korea or Russia. So what is this about?
The likely purpose of the 'North Korean soldiers' campaign is to get more support for Ukraine.
This, [Zelenski] hopes, will incite western forces to send their own troops to Ukraine if only to counter the North Koreans.
But to achieve that requires to present real evidence. No western country, nor South Korea, will send weapons or soldiers based on pure rumors. There will be requests of real evidence. How can the lack of such be explained?
Today the Ukrainian Minister of Defense, Rustem Umerov, has given a hint how Ukraine will handle this issue (machine translation):
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov confirmed the words of the head of the National Security and Defense Council's Center for Combating Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko , that the first "small-scale fighting" had already taken place between the Ukrainian Armed Forces and North Korean soldiers, and the Koreans had suffered losses.
...
Umerov also said that the Russian Federation disguises Koreans as Buryats, so the dead and prisoners must be identified before Ukraine calls the number of enemy losses.
The Buryats are a Mongolic ethnic group native to southeastern Siberia who speak the Buryat language. They are one of the two largest indigenous groups in Siberia, the other being the Yakuts. The majority of the Buryats today live in their titular homeland, the Republic of Buryatia, a federal subject of Russia which sprawls along the southern coast and partially straddles Lake Baikal.
There are about half a million Buryat citizens of the Russian Federation. To western eyes Buryat look Asian and not immediately distinct from people from North Korea. A decent share of the Buryats have taken well paid jobs in the military forces of Russia. There will be several around the fronts in Ukraine.
As soon as some Buryat soldier of Russia will turn up dead, the Ukrainian military will present him as a disguised North Korean soldier. Some black and white photos will be found of a similar looking person in North Korean uniform ...
"There is your prove. Now send soldiers and weapons." will Umerov say.
Either that - or the whole thing will die down and soon be forgotten.
Posted by b on November 5, 2024 at 17:37 UTC | Permalink
next page »When I was watching 'The World at War' recently I was surprised to see the number of North Korean prisoners amongst the Soviet soldiers captured during WW2.
These North Koreans really get around, no?
Posted by: Merkin Scot | Nov 5 2024 17:57 utc | 2
"To western eyes Buryat look Asian and not immediately distinct from people from North Korea."
It may surprise some, but there is no consistent "look" of Buryats other than "East Asian with exceptions", and it is similar with Germans, "European looking with exceptions". They did not live in an isolated region like, say, Finland.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Nov 5 2024 17:59 utc | 3
Thanks for the posting b.
I have been following this ongoing meme push and wondering what is hoped to come of this misrepresentation of some NK troops getting some Russian training?
The fog of war
Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 5 2024 18:07 utc | 4
My recollection from WW2 is that Buryat, or area had good soldiers. I am not certain, but didn't these constitute a share of the (mainly) Siberian shock army that was the tip of the spear of the counteroffensive in December-41 in front of Moskva.
So it is likely there are many soldiers from this area in today's red army.
When it comes to North Korea, I think it is very possible that they have sent soldiers in the area for training/experienxe of war without being comitted to fighting. NK have not been in war for two generations, close to three. In the climate on the Korean peninsula, I can imagine a strong desire from NK army to get some kind of experience.
As far as concrete allegations from lyingWest is concerned (10000-ish soldiers), this is miniscule if you think that Russia now has more than half a million on the field.
Posted by: NorwegianPawn | Nov 5 2024 18:17 utc | 6
B: I continue to believe that the whole story about North Korean soldiers in Russia is bovine excrement.
No, that's not true, it's too brilliant for that. The US Jews pulling Biden's strings would not have invented this on their own.
The deployment of the North Koreans signals to all of Europe - and that is why the consternation is so great - that Russia, which no one would have believed after years of propagandistic media treatment of the European population, namely that Russia has friends and they are even prepared to fight for Russia and to die. It further shows that Russia is quite large and, if necessary, transports its armed friends over 10,000 km in order to throw them at the door of the Europeans. Yes, that’s how globalization works too. And then we must not forget that North Korea is just China's garden gnome. This means that if the Europeans absolutely want to push the conflict with Russia to the extreme, they must expect the intervention of Asian powers - Asian ground troops - in Europe!
Posted by: Oliver Krug | Nov 5 2024 18:18 utc | 7
This all kicked off at the same time as rumours of South Korean pilots arriving with SK F-16s in Romania and some strange bragging about the successful training of Ukrainian pilots in UK (actually mostly English Language training and some propellor engined flying at speeds up to 200mph (at which an F-16 would stall and drop out of the sky).
So totally fictional, and lets face it, what else can be said about Ukraine without throwing in the towel immediately.
Posted by: Mickey Droy | Nov 5 2024 18:20 utc | 8
When I was watching 'The World at War' recently I was surprised to see the number of North Korean prisoners amongst the Soviet soldiers captured during WW2.
These North Koreans really get around, no?Posted by: Merkin Scot | Nov 5 2024 17:57 utc | 2
LOL! Did the TV show narrator actually label the WW2 POWs as "North Koreans" when such a country did not yet exist? Anything is possible now, no lie too absurd.
Posted by: Drifter | Nov 5 2024 18:22 utc | 9
No, that's not true, it's too brilliant for that. The US Jews pulling Biden's strings would not have invented this on their own
Posted by: Oliver Krug | Nov 5 2024 18:18 utc | 7
Too brilliant?! LOL!!! Completely stupid yes. No evidence, nothing. Yes, B is right: bullshit. And even elephant shit.
Only trolls think that lies are "brilliant".
Posted by: Naive | Nov 5 2024 18:27 utc | 10
thanks b...
the west excels at info war, which is a polite way of saying 'bullshit'.... it is a hopeless task trying to dispel bullshit, but you do a good job! but, the manure will continue to flow and at some point the empire of manure will cease to control the narrative, because of the reality on the ground which doesn't correspond... people get suckered all the time with videos and fake photos.... AI!!...guess who loves it?? intel agencies can't fool people for forever, although they do a pretty good job in the west for the most part...
Posted by: james | Nov 5 2024 18:28 utc | 11
With Norks’ borders increasingly bereft of the troops sent to Ukraine, any day now we should expect to see the Sorks roll over the DMZ.
It’ll all be over by Christmas.
Posted by: I forgot | Nov 5 2024 18:36 utc | 12
Very helpful exploration of a bad smelling story carried along on unmistakably western legs.
Posted by: John Gilberts | Nov 5 2024 18:38 utc | 13
One thing puzzles me about this: even if it were true that N Koreans are helping out in person (for which I agree there’s no evidence but let’s just say), why would this change ANYTHING about western response?
I mean, aren’t the parameters of western allied response and assistance to Ukraine set by what’s in the interest of the power people back in the home countries? How does that change with N Korean involvement?
Ukraine is already losing … it will just lose faster. How does that mean some German or French soldiers need to die too or we expand to nuclear war? It’s just idiotic all around.
Posted by: Caliman | Nov 5 2024 18:40 utc | 14
Here is a Soviet sniper from Buryatia, Tsyrendashi Dorzhiev.
I could easily see a person similar to him in the present day being sold as a North Korean to an audience.
And anyways, don't the North Koreans and the Russians have a military agreement? If I were North Korea, I would be thrilled to send soldiers over there to learn modern drone and electronic, robotic, whatever the hell it is now, warfare. And I think that is okay within international law if North Korean military are in Russia with Russia's agreement. I don't know.
Here's a cool Buryat music video I found!
Клип Арюн-Гоа "Эрбэд соохор", бурятская народная песня. Aryun-Goa “Erbed sookhor”
Posted by: lex talionis | Nov 5 2024 18:40 utc | 15
A monument of lies found in one western merdia:
North Korea declares war on Europe. You can try to hide this as you want under the rug that allows you not to pay attention to it, but the facts are harsh. I repeat: Kim Jong-un's soldiers, 8000, 10’000, 12’000 men perhaps, under the orders of Major-General Sin Kum-cheol, are on the border of Europe, two hours by plane from western Europe. Allies of the Russians, they are preparing to fight against the Ukrainians.
This news should panic the Europeans. Not just because we're going to have to learn to pronounce the major-general's name. This is where the weak wait-and-see attitude, the soft sanctions that can be circumvented, the weapons that we don't want to deliver, and this vaguely pro-Russian desire for "non-escalation" have led in this war that Vladimir Putin is waging against Ukraine, Europe, the West, you and me.
Congratulations again, really: a new nuclear power, located 9000 kilometers from our countries, intends to come and help Putin exterminate a sovereign country. Of course, some point out that this shows the fragility of the Russian army, forced to beg for help, like Stalin once did to Hitler, and that it will end badly. But what exactly does it mean to end badly, at this point?
Emphases mine.
Can someone imagine more lies like those?
Once upon a time it was a charter called the Munich charter. Bye bye that charter.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_Charter
Posted by: Naive | Nov 5 2024 18:42 utc | 16
There are several delicious aspects to the NK Soldiers helping Russia tosh.
1. Hardly anyone cares whether it's true or not.
2. NK is a Made in AmeriKKKa Artificial Enemy. The only reason the Yanks refused to sign a treaty with NK is because they wanted an excuse to militarily occupy South Korea to 'protect' SK from (heavily sanctioned) SK.
3. The lazy, stupid, mendacious half-wits who call the shots in USA have been able to bully and bribe their 'allies' into buying their 2nd rate overpriced military hardware for so long that they lost the incentive to continually improve it. And now it's too late and Russian & Chinese (and Iranian) weaponry is superior.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Nov 5 2024 18:43 utc | 17
@12 - Technically they are Souks, not Sorks. Carry on.
Posted by: KirovLes | Nov 5 2024 18:45 utc | 18
Correction:
...to 'protect' SK from (heavily sanctioned) NK.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Nov 5 2024 18:46 utc | 19
"I continue to believe that the whole story about North Korean soldiers in Russia is bovine excrement."
Western intelligence has ran out of that. They have moved onto hypopottamus poo.
Posted by: Sun Of Alabama | Nov 5 2024 18:47 utc | 20
I think this started as an op to get European armies involved.
Didn't work out so the numbers started escalating, where they were started to get closer to Ukraine, what they were doing went from picking their nose to actively attacking. Still no reaction
Then the US, Russia and North Korea changed their tune at about the same time. The US switched to "Unless they help attack Ukraine we won't do anything.", Russia and North Korea went from denials to "What are you going to do if we do have North Korean soldiers on Russian soil? There is nothing illegal about that".
So there might be North Korean soldiers there now but at most in support roles or rather integrating into the local Russian command structure in that role. It is basically calling the bluff of this operation. It is also less of an escalation then it sounds, NATO as a whole has no stomach for this fight, only Russians and Ukrainians were supposed to die.
Posted by: Who Cares | Nov 5 2024 18:51 utc | 21
It's more than bs it's impossible, it a matter of Ukraine/NATO/USA getting hold of DPRK prisoners of war, that would give the USA one hell of a lever over the DPRK and Russia, not just kind men for men but over the broad spectrum of policies the three sides USA, RF, and DPRK confront military and hybrid.
The USA would create wedge between Russia and the DPRK with contrasting offers some in secret some made public to creat conflict. Korean troops fighting in the DPRK in this time and place is deadly trouble for RF and DPRK, they would literally be handing the USA a knife holding on to the blade end. Russia and the DPRK are well aware of this so it's not happening, period, end discussion.
My guess is that it's to force what has been till now a reluctant South Korea to start handing over its arsenal, I disagree with b on this, it's all about pressure on the vassals, the USA just gave S.Korea an offer they can no longer refuse, they foamed the runway, now S.Korea has no choice but to crash land for the Empire.
Was having monthly coffee with zombie sheeple friends the other day, first thing woman said, "what do you think of those N.Koreans fighting in Ukraine!" I didn't even bother trying to explain, it would be like taking an ice cream away from a child, brainwashed people need the reinforcement, constantly, to survive, otherwise cognitive dissonance creeps in, and stress, and - work, and that's not what most people want, they just want to enjoy their ice cream. But, that was when I became 110% certain that the DPRK troops story was bullshit.
BTW Italo-Ruskie youtuber Nicolai Lilin two months ago went to Perm to the big air force base there, invited by friends in the military who he had served with in Chechnya, everything he saw and could report was controlled but he freely said that the base was full of Chinese and N.Koreans training with the Russians, mostly advanced pilots working on integrating their air forces. The UKR/NATO/USA could have made huge stink over that at anytime over the last two years but the never did, that's also a give away, they are not interested in reality, they are interested in narrative, propaganda, and the alluring smell of their own bullshit.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Nov 5 2024 18:53 utc | 22
The "North Korean Soldiers in Ukraine!!" story always seemed very unlikely. Kim Jong-un needs his soldiers close to home.
Posted by: lester | Nov 5 2024 18:57 utc | 23
Whatever next? Can we look forward to a White House spokesperson standing at a lectern to solemnly announce the evidence of Russian meddling in North Korean elections???
Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Nov 5 2024 18:58 utc | 24
At one time, there were fair numbers of Korean and Chinese people living in the Far Eastern Maritime province. The Czars had stolen the area from Qing dynasty in the 1860s, after all. But Stalin deported all those people to Central Asia.
Posted by: lester | Nov 5 2024 19:00 utc | 25
We augt also remember that there is a Buryat Mongol republic here in Europe: I,E, the autonomaus Buryat republic medween the rivers of the Volga and on the south side of the silently søowing Don. And remember also the Volga-Don Cnhal which Churchill warnerëd agaist in the early 1920ies before he sold himselt to "you know whome" to uphold his support for th City of London, finally.
Posted by: T | Nov 5 2024 19:03 utc | 26
NK soldiers can be deployed to defend Russian territory. The two countries have signed something akin to a mutual defense pact. The US and the West should have been more careful when pressing Russia, they have now effectively made NK stronger. Unintended consequences just so that the Western way of life can spread towards the Russian borders. Now there are consequences.
Posted by: alek_a | Nov 5 2024 19:04 utc | 27
Famous last words:
"Solch ein Ding mussn wir auch haben."
Posted by: Tollef Ås | Nov 5 2024 19:07 utc | 28
"We are at war with East Asia. We have always been at war with East Asia"
Posted by: ChatNPC | Nov 5 2024 19:10 utc | 29
Iranian missiles , DPKR soldiers ... what next ? My bets are on Venezuelan cocaine ! ;p
Posted by: Hiro Masamune | Nov 5 2024 19:11 utc | 30
Tangentially, I’ve been entertaining a similar hypothesis regarding “military-age Chinese males illegally crossing the border into our country”.
Q’s:
- “Chinese” from which country?
- Says who? How many? Deviation from baseline? Never seen details.
- Is it under someone’s authority and for what purpose? (“Visas for AQ” anyone?)
- If they’re spotted while traveling (planes, trains, buses) and photographed, can I trust that one set of photos werent made and slowly published to exaggerate the frequency and batch size? If someone took one large group and repeatedly randomized them into smaller groups and flew them around the country, would anyone know if it’s the same set of people?
- Who’s “brilliant!” plan is it to send some of your advance scouts without passports through border controls so that they can be rounded up, identified, interviewed, and presumably tracked?
@ KirovLes | Nov 5 2024 18:45 utc | 18
Thanks for coming! Please tip your waiter.
Posted by: I forgot | Nov 5 2024 19:15 utc | 31
The German WW2 biographies are replete with tales of Asiastic Russians during the counteroffensive in Moscow 1941. Shoigu is part Tuvan.Russia is 20 percent Europe 80 percent Asia.
Posted by: Cavery | Nov 5 2024 19:17 utc | 32
For shits and giggles:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buryats
A large scale genetic study from 2021 shows that the Buryats, as well as other Mongolic ethnic groups, such as Mongols, have nearly exclusively East-Eurasian (East Asian-related) genetic ancestry (≈95% to 98%), which can be largely traced back to Neolithic millet agriculturalists of Northeast Asia, but also Paleo-Siberians, and "Yellow river farmers" from around the Yellow River region of Northern China. Genetic evidence shows that Northeast Asian like ancestry massively expanded westwards during the Bronze Age and Iron Age in several waves. Although Buryats are closer to their Mongolic and Tungusic-speaking neighbors, out of the major East Asian ethnic groups, they are genetically closest to the Koreans, followed by Northern Han, Japanese and Southern Han, in that order, according to FST genetic distance measurements.[55]
Posted by: KMRIA | Nov 5 2024 19:19 utc | 33
I would bet the first NK assets that nato will see will be one of these, or a shorter ranged cousin,but concerning assumed NK troops in RF soil... doesn't nato mix and throw whatever countries they feel like in whatever place they decide to make exercises or joint operations?
Good for the goose...
https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/hwasong19-nkorea-new-threats-mainland
Posted by: Newbie | Nov 5 2024 19:24 utc | 34
Russia and Korea are neighboring countries with long contact. There are around 150 thousand ethnic Koreans living in Russia with Russian citizenship. If out of 150 million ppl at least 1 million are in the armed forces, one would expect a similar percentage of those Koreans being soldiers, ~1000 persons. Even the Ukraine has a number of Koreans from Soviet times left - enough to stage some "evidence". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koryo-saram
Posted by: BG13 | Nov 5 2024 19:25 utc | 35
Suppose this is true - that North Korean soldiers are present. How is this possible without China's blessing?
Posted by: ian | Nov 5 2024 19:28 utc | 36
we've just the one thread today, let me know if this is not OK:
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hjl11t0dbye
Netanyahu fires Gallant
Posted by: ockham | Nov 5 2024 19:36 utc | 37
One day, sooner or later, some truthtelling researcher within the Euro-Brit-American intelligensia will finally dare to tell the true story of semi-jewish Khaszars and their East Asian spawn. Those Chechens/Tsjehens who konverted very early on and came westwards out of Northeastmost Asia. But even Marco Polo tells us their story by NOT telling it in the compleat versuiont "wheses hy+urried whence"" Omar Khaiyam gives us a few leads through his "rubiyat"(quaodraines): He dared not tell the true origins of his rulers, but only hinted at it.
Posted by: Tollef Ås | Nov 5 2024 19:37 utc | 38
@ ian (#36):
North Korea and Russia share a border. It is not much, less then 20 km (of land) but they do share a border.
Posted by: Who Cares | Nov 5 2024 19:44 utc | 39
Wouldn't one need twice as many North Korean soldiers, with one half having their guns pointed at the other half to keep them from defecting?
That's exaggeration, of course - I'm sure that there are plenty of North Koreans who love their homeland regardless of its faults, who have families that don't want to get sent up the river if they were to go AWOL. But I can't see Kim Jong Un letting some part of his army slip from under his control, much less 10,000 men or so, even if it's to get combat experience against a European army. What am I missing here?
Posted by: Ursula Zandt | Nov 5 2024 19:45 utc | 40
Another aspect to this story: it's also pushed directly by the South Korean government, or by South Korean media close to the government (like the herald group).
Coincidentally, there was a sunden surge of interest for Korean equipment this last few month, and Korea would be happy to oblige if it wasn't for 87% of the population oppose to military aid to Ukraine.
Posted by: Phocion | Nov 5 2024 19:46 utc | 41
Netanyahu fires Gallant
Posted by: ockham | Nov 5 2024 19:36 utc | 37
############
Bibi's "winning" is just like Zelensky's "winning". Firing Gallant or Zaluzhnyi, the same loser moves.
Sinwar's legacy continues to dismantle the Zionist regime just as Mikhail Tolstykh's (Givi) legacy is the end of the UkroNazi regime.
It's all continuing towards inevitable and predictable outcomes.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Nov 5 2024 19:48 utc | 42
What am I missing here?
Posted by: Ursula Zandt | Nov 5 2024 19:45 utc | 40
Your view of NK is formed from Western Propaganda, and not from the history of a nation who had 19 of its 22 biggest cities turned completely to rubble by said writers of Western Propaganda.
Posted by: UWDude | Nov 5 2024 19:54 utc | 43
Some time ago, end of October, I read the following article: "South Korea has decided to openly fight with Russia?!"
...
Last week, the first 16 pilots from South Korea's 19th Air Wing arrived at NATO's Romanian air base near Mihail Kogalniceanu. Apparently, South Korea sent the first squadron of the air wing, the most prepared and combat-ready, to the war in full force. This means they are planning to throw them into battle immediately.Currently, the F-16 fighters allocated to Ukraine are also in Romania - at the Fetești air base on the border with Moldova. As soon as the South Korean pilots go there, this will be an indicator of the imminent use of these aircraft in Ukraine. In addition to the F-16 pilots, pilots of South Korean T-50 combat training aircraft, which are used in the southern army as light attack aircraft, have arrived at the air base in the commune of Mikhail Kogalniceanu. It is assumed that these aircraft may be useful as hunters for "Geraniums" in the protection of the Odessa port.
...
This US information warfare of deceit about fictitious North Korean soldiers fighting Ukrainians (weather in Russia proper or on the Ukrainian front lines) is used as a justification for higher South Korean involvement in a war it doesn't belong in.
Posted by: xor | Nov 5 2024 19:57 utc | 44
Posted by: Ursula Zandt | Nov 5 2024 19:45 utc | 40
"What am I missing here?"
Pretty much everything, really.
I like the 'Z' in your name. Familiar.
Posted by: Casperger | Nov 5 2024 20:00 utc | 45
Posted by: UWDude | Nov 5 2024 19:54 utc | 43
wait until they mention vietnamese vietcongs xD
Posted by: Macpott | Nov 5 2024 20:00 utc | 46
We augt also remember that there is a Buryat Mongol republic here in Europe: I,E, the autonomaus Buryat republic medween the rivers of the Volga and on the south side of the silently søowing Don. And remember also the Volga-Don Cnhal which Churchill warnerëd agaist in the early 1920ies before he sold himselt to "you know whome" to uphold his support for th City of London, finally.Posted by: T | Nov 5 2024 19:03 utc | 26
Are you referring to Republic of Kalmykia? This subject of Russian Federation is nominal home of Kalmyks, whom I believe to be ethnic actual-mongols (migrated there with the Horde back in the 1200's). Largest population of Buddhists in Europe.
IIRC: Kalmyks are Mongols. Buryats are mongolic & speak a related mongolic language.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalmykia
Posted by: retroflecks | Nov 5 2024 20:01 utc | 47
Posted by: xor | Nov 5 2024 19:57 utc | 44
south koreans really do not know what happens when russians get mad at them ^^
Posted by: Macpott | Nov 5 2024 20:03 utc | 48
It isn't necessary to go all the way to Siberia to find Asian Russians. Just go to the Buddhist republic of Kalmykia on the Caspian whose oligarch president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was president of FIDE until he got sanctioned. Haven't got time to do it myself but it shouldn't be hard to find an image of him. Definitely Asian.
Posted by: Gerry L Forbes | Nov 5 2024 20:04 utc | 49
This was 2 days ago.
Somehow "Disguised As Buryats" doesn't work when you find a pristine DPRK ID. They should coordinate their disinfo campaign
So clean it could've been a 'terrorist' passport found in the twin towers rubble.
No follow up picture of the inside OC so they could verify the identity of the 'captured soldier', intentionally only showing a half and blurry asian face.
Psyops are the best, haven't laughed this much since the obvious Trump 'they shot my ear' farce.
Posted by: Ed Bernays | Nov 5 2024 20:06 utc | 50
I wouldn't be surprised if a few NK soldiers were in Russia for training & experience. In the Kursk region they could get active fighting experience on Russia's soil, with no real chance of capture by the west.
But without evidence, not happening.
Posted by: Mary | Nov 5 2024 20:07 utc | 51
ZH has a posting up with the title
Ukraine Announces First Direct Clashes With North Korean Troops
the quote
The US and South Korea now say many thousands of North Korean troops are on the front lines, potentially engaging Ukrainian forces, with most of them located in Russia's Kursk oblast, which has been under Ukrainian troop presence since the August cross-border offensive."More than 10,000 North Korean soldiers are currently in Russia, and we assess that a significant portion of them are deployed to front-line areas, including Kursk," spokesman for South Korea's defense ministry, Jeon Ha-kyou, told a briefing.
The Pentagon has said the same with spokesman Pat Ryder having stated Monday, "All indications are that they will provide some type of combat or combat support capability." He added: "We would fully expect that the Ukrainians would do what they need to do to defend themselves and their personnel."
The US administration has continued to warn that these foreign troops are "legitimate military targets" if they are found inside Ukraine and enter the fight.
Kiev has taken the allegations a step further, saying that already there's been an exchange of fire between Ukrainian and North Korean troops. But it reportedly happened inside Russia.
"Ukrainian officials said on Monday that their forces had fired at North Korean soldiers in combat for the first time since their deployment by Russia to its western Kursk region," FT writes of the new development.
The publication is calling the alleged instance "the first direct intervention by a foreign army since Russia’s full-scale invasion" as well as constituting an expansion of "what was already the largest land war in Europe since the second world war."
"The first military units of the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] have already come under fire in Kursk," Andriy Kovalenko, Ukraine’s high-ranking 'counter-disinformation' official, announced on Telegram. Another top intelligence official said the same but did not provide or confirm any details of the alleged clash.
Ukraine's foreign minister Andrii Sybiha has urged his visiting German counterpart Annalena Baerbock on the "need for decisive action" in response to North Korea's presence in the conflict.
"We urge Europe to realize that the DPRK troops are now carrying [out] an aggressive war in Europe against a sovereign European state," Sybiha told a press conference.
The fog of war
Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 5 2024 20:10 utc | 52
I dont buy it. And I think saying its all a lie to get SK involved is specious. I highly doubt SK will get involved even if there are Best Koreans in Russia. Both Russia and Best Korea have given their non denials, and in those non denials they reiterate they are an alliance, and completely within their rights to help each other.
South Korea will not directly get involved in the war for the same reason every other mation on Earth does not get directly involved, and that is because Russia will declare war on them.
So I think NK are in Russia, and will soon be blooding their regiments in Kursk, and the media is squawking and screaming about it, and trying to make it scandalous, because that is all they can do.
Posted by: UWDude | Nov 5 2024 20:15 utc | 53
In response to
"
we've just the one thread today, let me know if this is not OK:
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hjl11t0dbye
Netanyahu fires Gallant
Posted by: ockham | Nov 5 2024 19:36 utc | 37
"
B does not post new threads for all subjects everyday. Go to the main page, find the latest about Palestine and post your comment there instead of being OT here
Please and thank you
Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 5 2024 20:15 utc | 54
> The likely purpose of the 'North Korean soldiers' campaign is to get more support for Ukraine.
There is of course an even more worrying reason - to set a precedent of foreign troop intervention....
Posted by: Nope | Nov 5 2024 20:37 utc | 55
"But there is nothing left to sanction about North Korea or Russia. So what is this about?
The likely purpose of the 'North Korean soldiers' campaign is to get more support for Ukraine.
This, [Zelenski] hopes, will incite western forces to send their own troops to Ukraine if only to counter the North Koreans."
No, sorry, this doesn't hold water. NATO ever sending grunts to Ukraine to die fighting the Russians is out of the question. We don't have the stomach for it. It's too outlandish a notion even for Ukraine to dream of.
However, what they're still dreaming of and what all this is about is Taurus. The German Taurus KEPD 350 cruise missile with those nice features: "Mission planners program the missile with the target, air defence locations and planned ground path. The missile uses a terrain-hugging flight path, guided by inertial navigation system (INS), image based navigation (IBN), terrain referenced navigation (TRN), and Global Positioning System (GPS) to the target. It is capable of navigating over long distances without GPS support." (Wikipedia)
We know Ukraine is desperate to get them, and to use them to overcome Russian air-defence and electronic countermeasure systems. What's not so widely known is that South Korea has the Taurus in its inventory. And because of persistent German and US reservations about allowing Ukraine to use the top-notch features of the Taurus to wreak havoc in Russia, the degenerate-in-chief in Kiev and his mob have come up with this "cunning plan". Fabricate the threat of North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia to give South Korea the necessary excuse and incentive to support Ukraine with some of their Tauruses. It's the least South Korea could do, isn't it, when North Korean hordes are now raping Ukraine? The blob of South Korea, including the intelligence service, seems to be OK with the scheme.
However, if South Korea gives the Taurus to Ukraine, there's still the tiny issue of possible German ownership of those IBN/TRN features (see above). Might just end up as the same old predicament.
Posted by: Scotch Bingeington | Nov 5 2024 20:47 utc | 56
If an thing the reports of Koreans in that arena are a sign that Kursk salient will be taken back soon. IT is hard to integrate two armies during an offensive drive, much eaaier in garrison or defensive duty. Russia can push back on NATO mercs and official forces by escalating first. A lot of WW3 escalation fears can be triggered in a formally allowed fashion. NK friends gain experience and bring their own equipment along. US gets tied down in Asia on yet another front.
Posted by: SOS | Nov 5 2024 20:52 utc | 57
However, what they're still dreaming of and what all this is about is Taurus. The German Taurus KEPD 350 cruise missile with those nice features: "Mission planners program the missile with the target, air defence locations and planned ground path. The missile uses a terrain-hugging flight path, guided by inertial navigation system (INS), image based navigation (IBN), terrain referenced navigation (TRN), and Global Positioning System (GPS) to the target. It is capable of navigating over long distances without GPS support." (Wikipedia)
However, if South Korea gives the Taurus to Ukraine, there's still the tiny issue of possible German ownership of those IBN/TRN features (see above). Might just end up as the same old predicament.
Posted by: Scotch Bingeington | Nov 5 2024 20:47 utc | 56
you forgot an important feature, layer/empty count. It's critical for many defenses/buildings. Goes through a layer, counts an empty, goes through another, etc, at layer X explodes.
Posted by: Newbie | Nov 5 2024 21:02 utc | 58
Honestly, with the election ending today, we'll see if this story is even carried forward, or if they've gotten all the juice they can squeeze from it already.
Posted by: Bob | Nov 5 2024 21:06 utc | 59
If an thing the reports of Koreans in that arena are a sign that Kursk salient will be taken back soon.
Posted by: SOS | Nov 5 2024 20:52 utc | 57
Maybe not. Kursk is the perfect place for Russia to blood troops indefinitely. There was an attempted scandal rumor that Putin pretty much left Kursk open.
If I learned anything from MoA, its that Kursk was a famous battle and well studied among ww ii "eastern front" enthusiasts. see how enthusiastic the Russians are about Ww ii, I am sure every junior officer has a pretty good idea of the layout of kursk branded in his memory from lessons in officer training school.
The logistics to kursk are solid, it is friendly territory, known to locals, etc etc etc, and holding this theory is true, there may be tons of infrastructure there to make this the perfect fire pocket.
Posted by: UWDude | Nov 5 2024 21:13 utc | 60
b, the Buryats aren't "Asian-looking", they are Asians. Russia is multi-ethnic by default. Sending such a small cadre from Pyongyang would help the Russian Army barely, but it would be a great "live-fire training exercise" for the Korean Peoples Army's best infantry, also teach selected officers how to operate on a modern battlefield. I agree with you that the story is nonsense cooked up by the Ukrainian general staff or the US State department (or both). For there to be any reality to it, the numbers would have to be larger, the KPA would be in their own uniforms (with or without national insignia), they would have to send artillery (for protection), a small tank unit (why not train them too?), and whatever AA the KPA has that can actually work in a modern setting. Also a cooking staff, because the Russian rations would probably not agree with the stomachs of the KPA, and they want them efficient.
One poster commented about the great variability of Buriyat physiognomy. The same is true of Koreans, who according to their legends, crossed into the peninsula and confronted two great peoples. One they fought, the other they married. There is one exception. Due to the Mongol invasion of the 13th century, some genetic traces remains, what the Koreans call, "the Mongol face." Also, over many centuries, Koreans and Chinese have intermarried. Regardless, Koreans are a relatively monogamous people, but not easily identified just by features.
I always wonder why the West makes such an uproar about possible North Koreans fighting in Kursk. There are clear signs of Europeans and Americans, even South Americans, fighting for Ukraine in the Ukraine and in Kursk.
Posted by: Tedder | Nov 5 2024 21:18 utc | 62
> “ if ___ gives the Taurus to Ukraine”
Strongly doubt it matters which slaves donate it. Russia tolerates Nato fighting in Ukraine so long as Nato is clearly losing. If Nato strikes vital items in Russia, Russia will most probably retaliate by striking vital items in Nato.
If Russia were to decide not to retaliate in kind or more forcefully in response to that escalation, i promise to thereafter mumble “rk was right, all along” to myself until the end of my days.
Posted by: I forgot | Nov 5 2024 21:19 utc | 63
Another information operation involving North Korea was the case when american POWs admitted that the US had used biological weapons, and the US claimed that proved NK had brainwashed the americans to admit something they didnt do. A book was later published titled 'Why men confess' by Oetje John Rogge elaborating on why false confessions happen.
The whole MKULTRA projekt was based on that information operation where america DID use biological weapons but where the US authorities denied it to get the whole mindreading and mindmanipulating scientific program to accelerate. Linguistics was just one part of it and I have always wondered if Noam Chomsky became involved in it.
I dont know that but he knew others who were involved and linguistics is an important topic for automating surveillance technology. Early phoneme chips and other related things weren't made available to outsiders.
The technical terms are very varied indicating a huge field of research.
Posted by: petergrfstrm | Nov 5 2024 21:20 utc | 64
Why, then, have no Russian officials disclaimed the allegations that North Korean troops are in Kursk?
Posted by: Eric Zuesse | Nov 5 2024 21:22 utc | 65
…if South Korea gives the Taurus to Ukraine, there's still the tiny issue of…
depletion.
The reason Kiev-UKU$ wants those German missiles is because the Storm Shadows have mostly been used and or destroyed. Thus, on to the next warmwunderwaffle.
South Korea will be conflicted.. wanting to earn Big Boy gold stars for helping out, but also apprehensive.
If they demilitarise themselves like U$NATO has done, what happens when the Norks git uppity agin.
Posted by: Melaleuca | Nov 5 2024 21:22 utc | 66
What modern military wouldn't want to learn the latest technology and manoeuvres. It's why all militaries do joint training with a stronger ally. NK training is a given , even small roles on the front for actual battle skills is not extraordinary, mainly because , why not. It's actual real time experience. There's also the question of the south's role. Usa flew a nuke bomber in drills with the south recently. A resumption of power projection , and a sign that theres multiple pressure points to poke around, since empire needs some distractions. Half a century of military support/occupation will get some favours asked. As the cupboard empties a nation like the south that actually still has some capacity not yet drained is expected to step up.
Posted by: Hankster | Nov 5 2024 21:24 utc | 67
but not easily identified just by features.
I always wonder why the West makes such an uproar about possible North Koreans fighting in Kursk. There are clear signs of Europeans and Americans, even South Americans, fighting for Ukraine in the Ukraine and in Kursk.
Posted by: Tedder | Nov 5 2024 21:18 utc | 62
I am pretty good at guessing Asian ethnicity. I imagine most asians are even better. It often takes a minute or two of thought and concentration, but I can usually guess within a border, even Chinese, who are very diverse in facial features, still have characteristics on their face and mannerisms.
It's like I can almost always spot a white Russian. Its the way they hold their cheek, lips, and chin. I assume ot has something to do with their language that forms it this way... ..or maybe the vodka and kahlua. :/
(budump pshhht)
Posted by: UWDude | Nov 5 2024 21:25 utc | 68
Remember that there are Kalmucks and Tatars living in the Volga River valley, not far from Ukraine. Their young men have to do military service, and some of it maybe in Ukraine.
Posted by: lester | Nov 5 2024 21:26 utc | 69
The west may think its populations are dim, easily bought and basically stupid. The NK intervention is merely another Hollywood edition of "Zelenski: the Movie". They continue to watch it and believe it. Its so bad that people in the west can not distinguish fact from fuckin fiction!
THE NK STORY IS COMPLETE, UTTER BOLLOX!
Posted by: HERMIUS | Nov 5 2024 21:29 utc | 70
Eric Zeusse @ 65
Russians have the good sense not to rise to the bait. If they reply truthfully ‘No’, US/Ukraine just has to say ‘see, they denied it, so it must be true. They always lie.’ Which gives the US/Ukraine an opening to keep their phoney story in the headlines for another few days.
A question to the Bar: how much of this NK story is designed to rekindle fear in Western Europe along the lines of ‘Slanty-eyed invaders from East of the Urals = Mongol Hordes’?
Posted by: Extra | Nov 5 2024 22:00 utc | 71
These are Siberian RF troops, now in the unit rotation....yawn.....
NATO is just another group of neo con, fascistic liars.........but any port in their now desperate storm......
Posted by: Tobias Cole | Nov 5 2024 22:02 utc | 72
What am I missing here?
Posted by: Ursula Zandt | Nov 5 2024 19:45 utc | 40
Everything, especially you forgot to be clever when you repeat blindly western propaganda about North-Korea.
Posted by: Naive | Nov 5 2024 22:03 utc | 73
So 7,000 DPRK soldiers are more powerful than 20,000 NATO troops (already in Ukraine)?
Here NATO includes non-NATO US military allies including Colombia, South Korea, Argentina, Australia, Pakistan, etc.
USA and Ukraine are making up excuses to rationalize their military defeat.
Posted by: Jason | Nov 5 2024 22:04 utc | 74
Why, then, have no Russian officials disclaimed the allegations that North Korean troops are in Kursk?Posted by: Eric Zuesse | Nov 5 2024 21:22 utc | 65
...because they think it's funny.
I seem to recall 1-2 weeks back that a profusion of North Korean flags were being spotted on the RF side of the lines in the Donbas... ostensibly planted by RF forces: classic Russian Trolling.
If the myth of RF Sabotage groups in western Europe had any truth to it, we should have seen NK flags popping up in Berlin and Paris by now. LOL.
Posted by: retroflecks | Nov 5 2024 22:05 utc | 75
The original Rand article launched the idea of North Korean participation as a way to feed internal disagreements among Russia and its allies.
The main usage however has been to feed escalation, to motivate putting more resources in on our side. That doesn't seem part of the original plan.
Posted by: Tuyzentfloot | Nov 5 2024 22:07 utc | 76
Why, then, have no Russian officials disclaimed the allegations that North Korean troops are in Kursk?
Posted by: Eric Zuesse | Nov 5 2024 21:22 utc | 65
Simple, it is not necessary to comment lies. Where is the evidence that NK troops are in Kursk? Words, words, only words...
Only very stupid people think that Russia needs foreign troops. Do you?
Do you have other such stupid questions?
Posted by: Naive | Nov 5 2024 22:09 utc | 77
Been amusing myself with beating the shit out of some assholes on Quora until I get banned.
You can Google translate.
Posted by: Tichy | Nov 5 2024 22:11 utc | 78
Why, then, have no Russian officials disclaimed the allegations that North Korean troops are in Kursk?
Posted by: Eric Zuesse | Nov 5 2024 21:22 utc | 65
"Only idiots, at this stage, still trust any mainstream American news-media."
You wrote it. So... That answers your question. You are an idiot by your own words. Sorry.
Posted by: Naive | Nov 5 2024 22:13 utc | 79
Eric Zuesse @ 65
Why, then, have no Russian officials disclaimed the allegations that North Korean troops are in Kursk?
Good thing you're not in power.
Why play their game? In a way it would be acceding to the rules based order. The Russians are never blanket assertive about anything, that's how real power works, never tie your hands, maybe tomorrow they will need DPRK troops and they'd look like liars before the world, or confused fools. Best keep your mouth shut and let the hyper-hype other side tie themselves up in a tangle. I've always thought the Russians should go dark and stop saying anything at all, let the Iskanders do the talking, but it is a hybrid war and there is the BRICS and all that, hearts and minds of the RoW.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Nov 5 2024 22:14 utc | 80
Last year on 3 July, I posted the picture of this very happy Russian soldier to my VK wall to much fanfare from those who viewed it. It was the header photo for an article in the Russian publication Geopolitika. My title for the photo: A Russian Soldier. The title of the article, "The ABC of traditional values: The Unity of the Peoples of Russia." Here's the URL for the photo as it appears on my VK Wall. Thaks to Western censorship, many may not be able to view either.
At the time, it seemed logical for a desperate Outlaw US Empire to try and use the differing Russian ethnicities to force a wedge in their good relations using whatever lies and myths they could employ to accomplish the task. That ruse didn't work. The patriotism of the peoples living beyond the Urals IMO is greater than those within European Russia as proven by Putin's many trips to that region last year. Now it appears NATO is conjuring up the myth for a different purpose: To sell Europe the crazed idea that Russia wants to denazify all of Europe, although NATO doesn't employ the denazify term. What we have here is complete projection: The Outlaw US Empire is telling Europe what it would do if it were Russia. This appears to have been delivered straight from Mike Pompeo's ass.
Objective people know Russia doesn't covet Western Europe. The biggest problem would be having large enough forces to occupy and control a mass of people that outnumber Russia about 3:1 and have very few resources with which to support themselves. To attempt such a policy would ruin Russia's modernization and development plans and swiftly get Putin ousted. Furthermore, within all the planning made for Russia's future economic development there are no hints of any deviation that would be capable of supporting such a policy--Putin's aims are go-for-broke Russian development and that of the Multipolar World based on BRICS and SCO. People ask, why doesn't Russia say anything to dispel the male bovine excrement? Because it's already been said and stated in all sorts of ways--the planning, budget formulations, and thousands of other documents all related to Russia's stated goals, which are many besides those of the SMO. If you don't know what those are, you're not paying attention or are paid not to pay attention.
And what about DPRK? IMO, it's laughing greatly as it yanks on Uncle Sam's beard. Its main focus is on its own local security which is what the new alliance treaty is all about.
And finally, what do the Ukies think as they know the real score on the battlefield where they can't stop Russian advances. Does any line soldier care about the ethnicity of his opponent that's shooting at him and wish it were some other? In Vietnam, there were what were called North Vietnamese Regulars and Viet Cong both of which owned the night. Both had the same goal. Most in 'Nam said it was VC they were up against, but did they really ever know? I had a "tunnel rat" in my employ while working in Hawaii in the 1980s who told me he was NVA not VC, yet he was stationed in the South. I certainly had no reason to doubt him or evidence to say he was lying--and why would he lie?
Well, all the above is probably for naught since it's similar to what Jane calls substack garbage.
DS daily update:
https://deepstatemap.live/en#10/49.3210940/37.9330444
Overall a slightly subpar day for the RFA. 14.9 kmsq taken, versus an OCT pace of 17/day.
S to N:
1. 10.7 kmsq within two areas on the Vuhledar front. This continues to be the easiest sector to hoover up kmsq.
a. 4.9 kmsq, NW of Yasnia Polia. At this point, the mildly strategic small city of Kostiantynopil is only 9km away. Taking it would shut the back door on Khurakove. Lot of other directions, objectives possible, also. W, N or E. Or just hoovering up fields.
b. 5.8 kmsq in the pocket W of Bohiavlenka. Continues the theme of pushing the salients and filling in the pockets.
2. 1.7 kmsq NW of Vyshneve, with a salient starting to appear on the NW running railroad. Small advance, but helpful in starting to shape the Pokrovsk environs. But much, much more needed.
3. 3.5 kmsq on a salient to the SW of Andriivka (near Pischane bloom). There are burblings that RFA wants to press east towards Borova and the river and a bridge. But still a long ways away for now.
Posted by: Anonymous | Nov 5 2024 22:43 utc | 82
Overall a slightly subpar day for the RFAPosted by: Anonymous | Nov 5 2024 22:43 utc | 83
Clearly then, in your view Russia needs to deploy more North Korean troops in order to maintain progress to your satisfaction?
Or perhaps not and progress is continuing just at the rate Russia wants? After all, Ukraine won’t need troops once its territory has been occupied, will it? Or perhaps it’s easier for Russia to destroy the Ukrainian troops, then the territory comes as a freebie?
Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Nov 5 2024 22:56 utc | 83
The west may think its populations are dim, easily bought and basically stupid. The NK intervention is merely another Hollywood edition of "Zelenski: the Movie". They continue to watch it and believe it. Its so bad that people in the west can not distinguish fact from fuckin fiction!
THE NK STORY IS COMPLETE, UTTER BOLLOX!
Posted by: HERMIUS | Nov 5 2024 21:29 utc | 70
excactly hermie!
Posted by: Ted from Liverpool | Nov 5 2024 23:15 utc | 84
Suppose this is true - that North Korean soldiers are present. How is this possible without China's blessing?
Posted by: ian | Nov 5 2024 19:28 utc | 36
So your phone doesn't have a map app? No globe in your house?
Posted by: Screwdriver | Nov 5 2024 23:27 utc | 85
What am I missing here?
Posted by: Ursula Zandt | Nov 5 2024 19:45 utc | 40
I'd say the main thing you are missing is contact with reality.
Did your mom have any kids that aren't retarded?
Posted by: Screwdriver | Nov 5 2024 23:37 utc | 86
LightYearsFromHome | Nov 5 2024 18:53 utc | 22
*** Was having monthly coffee with zombie sheeple friends the other day, first thing woman said, "what do you think of those N.Koreans fighting in Ukraine!" I didn't even bother trying to explain, it would be like taking an ice cream away from a child, brainwashed people need the reinforcement, constantly, to survive, otherwise cognitive dissonance creeps in, and stress, and - work, and that's not what most people want, they just want to enjoy their ice cream. ***
Such zombies are enabling *blockers* for perpetuation of the political establishment and its propaganda control, even if they don't realise that fact.
They deserve all the stress and dissonance that can be instilled, albeit subtly.
If their ice-cream eventually curdles and their nerves end up in shreds, it's entirely their own complacent fault for never bothering to actually think, instead just parroting all the media-served regime crap.
Posted by: Cliff | Nov 5 2024 23:38 utc | 87
Retroflecks @ 47:
Most Kalmyks actually arrived in their present-day homeland Kalmykia after the Mongol invasions of Russia led by Genghis Khan, his sons and grandsons in the 1200s. A large number came during the mid-1700s after the Manchu empire (under Emperor Qianlong) carried out a genocide of Dzungar Mongols in the western parts of the empire (modern-day Xinjiang) to crush Dzungarian Mongol influence and possibly prevent the Dzungar Mongols from allying with the Tibetans to the south.
After surviving Dzungar Mongols fled into the Russian empire, the area that would become Xinjiang was resettled by Emperor Qianlong with Uyghurs, some of whom had participated in the genocide and were rewarded with land in the area, Han Chinese, Hui (Muslim Chinese) and other groups of colonists.
Incidentally Vladimir Lenin might have had some Kalmyk ancestry from his father's mother Anna Smirnova.
Posted by: Refinnejenna | Nov 5 2024 23:49 utc | 88
Posted by: Extra | Nov 5 2024 22:00 utc | 71That's definitely part of it. We already had this with Russians themselves. [The German "political scientist" Florence Gaub in April 2022: "Even if Russians look like us, they're not Europeans -- they have a different relation to life and death." Not quite on "they're subhuman" level but we're getting there.]A question to the Bar: how much of this NK story is designed to rekindle fear in Western Europe along the lines of ‘Slanty-eyed invaders from East of the Urals = Mongol Hordes’?
https://www.nachdenkseiten.de/?p=82944 (in German)
So yes, Russophobia and "they're Asian not European" plays a really big part in the current Western subtext. But there's much more to the North Korean soldiers by now:
1. Ukraine tries once more to get others to fight with/for them.
2. Plays on SK/NK enmity.
3. Russia indicates the military conflict could become international -- not only Western "mercenaries".
4. North Korea tells a message to South Korea (even without actual NK soldiers fighting).
5. The Russia-North Korea pact changes the East Asian picture *before* anyone (Taiwan, SK, Japan etc.) has been activated.
As usual, I get the feeling that the Eastern side is playing this smartly.
Posted by: Konami | Nov 6 2024 0:00 utc | 89
Ursula Zandt @ 40:
You wouldn't happen to have lost the "van" or "von" part of your surname when you decided to adopt it for the purposes of trolling this comments forum?
In any case, if 10,000 North Koreans happen to be in Russia getting military training or experience, they will have done so under the order of Kim Jong-un himself, as he is the head of the armed forces in North Korea.
North Korea's army is mostly a conscript army, and most conscripts are farm labourers. Since North Korea has been under economic sanctions by the West since the early 1950s, when it was completely devastated by the Korean War, the country is lacking a broad technological base, along with the education and experience, to design and build modern agricultural machinery and tools, and has had to rely on manual labour for the past 70+ years. Likewise, NK's armed forces lack the education, experience and skills to be a completely professional military, as a long-term consequence of sanctions.
The best way North Korea can effectively arm and defend itself is by pursuing technologies that can be demonstrated to be effective and whose costs are going down all the time - and drones designed to survey, to track and to kill fit the bill.
Posted by: Refinnejenna | Nov 6 2024 0:02 utc | 90
Eric Zuesse | Nov 5 2024 21:22 utc | 65
*** Why, then, have no Russian officials disclaimed the allegations that North Korean troops are in Kursk?***
Because the Russian officials tend to be less emphatic than an Australian called Peter when he was responding to trolls here?
Posted by: Cliff | Nov 6 2024 0:05 utc | 91
Why, then, have no Russian officials disclaimed the allegations that North Korean troops are in Kursk?Posted by: Eric Zuesse | Nov 5 2024 21:22 utc | 65
1/ Russia doesn't give a shit about what the west is thinking, and the west will take any disclaimer as a lie anyway.
2/ It's in the right of Russian to accept military aid from any country, none of the west business.
3/ It's so good for trolling: the guy putting most NK flags all over the front line is having the time of his life (his mother was NK).
Posted by: Phocion | Nov 6 2024 0:08 utc | 92
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg joined thousands of demonstrators who marched on the Georgian parliament in Tbilisi on Monday. They were protesting what they say was a rigged election last month.
The parliamentary elections in the former Soviet republic took place on October 26. The ruling Georgian Dream party, which advocates pragmatic relations with Russia, won around 54% of the vote.
Story by RT today.
----------------------
Why doesn't Greta demonstrate on behalf of the people of Moldova, who just had their election stolen by the CIA? The recent Venezuelan elections were almost stolen, and the U.S. still refuses to accept the outcome. Now, there are some causes to demonstrate for, or better yet, stick to, climate change.
Posted by: Ed | Nov 6 2024 0:12 utc | 93
Posted by: Anonymous | Nov 5 2024 22:43 utc | 83
Yea it looks like you have much experience at being subpar.
Let's return to reality.
In a war of attrition only morons focus on territory.
Posted by: Screwdriver | Nov 6 2024 0:15 utc | 94
In a war of attrition, only morons focus on territory.
Posted by: Screwdriver | Nov 6 2024 0:15 utc | 95
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The trolls know this; they have heard it here a thousand times. I think they just have nothing else to say.
Posted by: Ed | Nov 6 2024 0:27 utc | 95
Posted by: Screwdriver | Nov 6 2024 0:15 utc | 95
Exactly. He will never give data about how many Ukrainians were eliminated. And without soldiers to occupy a territory, guess what happens to that territory...
Posted by: Naive | Nov 6 2024 0:31 utc | 96
"All these zipperheads look the same"
-- some yank
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Nov 6 2024 0:42 utc | 97
not sure why some folks are being hard with eric zuesse... of course russia doesn't have to say one way or the other.. it is none of the worlds business...
i personally think there are some nk soldiers in russia, not that it matters... it would matter if they were in ukraine, but i very much doubt that... if they were to be in kursk, that is russian territory after all... so if they are their or not - doesn't matter... and what i said @ 11 still holds true... this is another propaganda exercise of the west...
Posted by: james | Nov 6 2024 1:03 utc | 98
Ed @ 94
She gets a nice paycheck for that shit, call it an honorarium if you like, just like Bono, Jolie, Penn and all the rest of the creeps. She's not a child anymore, no one ever asks how she pays the bills, who covers all the expenses. Like she's a magic fairy that just appears and lives off happy vibes and air. Crazy world we live in in 2024, people just put their brains in a box, stuff it up in a shelf in the closet, and forget about them.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Nov 6 2024 1:05 utc | 99
Flicked through search results and all related western news writes as if there is no doubt on NK presence. I don't follow the conflict from close and so have no idea what the reality is, however what comes to mind is that NK troops on defacto Russian territory would be perfectly legitimate. We have seen Chinese troops publicly in Belarus if I remember.
Clearly western interests are propagandistic "Russia supplies nuclear to NK to save itself", but if there was an understandable concern (per western intent) it would be a strengthened defense pact between the two.
As for if NK troops fight on Ukrainian/Ex-Ukrainian soil proper, there we would be back at the legitimacy of Russian annexation, and so subject to anyone's interpretation (hence legitimate to Russia and others, not so to the west, and the UN not a be all).
Public propaganda-wise in the west it is more along the lines of portraying Putin associating with a leader who executes those who don't applaud him enough or build weapons fast enough with AA guns, while half the population starve eating grass. That is really the level portrayal of NK is at, and placing Putin into that picture is clearly to try to diminish him to a western audience, not that I expect that would affect or perturb Putin at all, beyond reminding him how unkindly scheming the west is. I don't think he holds many positive illusions of western intent anymore anyway, and just as easily Russia may be various steps further ahead on this whole theme than portrayed.
Posted by: Ornot | Nov 6 2024 1:26 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
I watched a DOD press conference yesterday. The General said tha tthey are training in the Far East and have yet to be deployed west.
Posted by: circumspect | Nov 5 2024 17:57 utc | 1