Russia dismisses reports about 10,000 North Korean volunteers fighting in Ukraine

Russian state news agency TASS denounced the claim that North Korea had offered up to 100,000 volunteers to fight in Ukraine as bogus.

“We can state with full responsibility that these reports are fake news through and through. No such talks are underway and there are no plans to deploy North Korean volunteers,” declared a representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry to TASS.

The rumors seem to have started out with statements made by Russian military expert Igor Korotchenko, on Russia's Channel One. Korotchenko has been described as being part of the Russian Ministry of Defence’s Public Council.

Image: Russia's Channel One

“There are reports that 100,000 North Korean volunteers are prepared to come and take part in the conflict,” Korotchenko declared.

Korotchenko praised North Korea’s “wealth of experience with counter-battery warfare”, a statement that the New York Post hints at a growing concern given Ukraine’s success with long-range artillery.

Business Insider claims that the US decision to send a dozen HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems) to Ukraine has been a game changer in favor of the government in Kyiv.

“If North Korea expresses a desire to meet its international duty to fight against Ukrainian fascism, we should let them”, Korotchenko was quoted saying by the New York Post.

However, Newsweek warned at the time that Korotchenko's statements seemed to be unfounded and that he, for the most part, had a reputation for peddling propaganda in favor of the Kremlin with little to no backing.

What is true is that according to the South China Morning Post, North Korea boasts of the sixth-largest army in the world, with nearly 1.3 million active personnel.

Adding to that, 600,000 citizens of the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea serve as reserve soldiers. Finding 100,000 volunteers should be no problem for Pyongyang.

However, the New York-based Council of Foreign Relations argues that aging equipment and technology is one of the main disadvantages faced by the North Korean military.

Business Insider cited the South Korea-based newspaper Daily NK, which reported that North Korea was planning to send over 1000 workers to the Donbas region if Russia wins the war.

“Considering that the war isn’t over yet, the government is planning to send workers at an appropriate time while monitoring the situation on the ground,” a North Korean source cited in Daily NK said.

The New York Post pointed out that, back in July, the chief of British intelligence warned that Russia would be soon “running out of steam”.

“Our assessment is that the Russians will increasingly find it difficult to supply manpower [and] matériel over the next few weeks”, UK spymaster Richard Moore declared.

The Ukrainian government severed ties with North Korea back in July, over Pyongyang's recognition of the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent territories.