North Korean officers claimed killed after missile attack in Donetsk

On October 3rd, a Ukrainian missile strike against a target in Russian-occupied territory near the city of Donetsk resulted in the death of twenty soldiers, six of whom were North Korean officers according to reports. 

The Kyiv Post reported that the six North Korean officers were in the Russian-occupied territories to “confer with their Russian counterpart” and cited it got the information from the new outlet’s intelligence sources. 

Three North Korean soldiers were also wounded in the missile strike and the Kyiv Post reported that Russian social media claimed the North Koreans were watching a Russian demonstration on the “training of personnel for assault actions and defense.”

In 2023, the Ukrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence warned Pyongyang of sending military personnel, including engineering personnel, to Russian-occupied territory near Donetsk according to a report from Newsweek that cited a Russian Telegram channel. 

The National Center for Resistance also reported in September 2023 that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was persuaded by Russian President Vladimir Putin to send North Korean citizens to the Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine. 

Putin allegedly convinced Kim to open diplomatic missions to Donetsk and Luhansk so that they could strengthen economic ties, promote tourism, and facilitate the importing of workers who could be used for construction projects in the occupied territories.

Russia and North Korea have developed a much closer relationship since Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The United States has accused Moscow of using their relationship to obtain war materials from Pyongyang. 

In June 2024, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Wonsik claimed that Pyongyang had delivered roughly 10,000 shipping containers worth of military help to Russia and added the containers could have held up to 4.8 million artillery pieces according to Bloomberg News.

“Putin is expected to seek closer security cooperation with North Korea, especially military supplies such as artillery shells that are necessary to seize a chance to win,” Shin told Bloomberg News. 

In return for military supplies, Russia has allegedly been providing technology to the North Koreans to assist them in their plans to deploy spy satellites into orbit. Shin also said Moscow was also helping North Korea advance its conventional arms like tanks and aircraft. 

June 2024 also saw Putin visit North Korea for the first time in 24 years. While there he signed a new defense and security pact with Pyongyang that Foreign Policy magazine referred to as a “landmark deal” deal between the two nations. 

“The treaty promises immediate military aid if either country faces armed aggression,” noted Foreign Policy’s Alexandra Sharp, who added the Soviet Union signed a similar deal with North Korea in 1961, which lasted until the collapse of the communist state. 

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