Following the conclusion of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement with Russia, North Korea decided to participate in the war in Ukraine, and there were recent reports that North Korean combat units are stationed and undergoing adaptation training in the Russian Far East. North Korean military training and garrison stations are distributed in four locations, including Vladivostok and Usrysk, and the troops sent there are known to be North Korea’s elite special forces unit, the 11th Corps, also known as the ‘Storm Corps’. There have been reports that North Korean troops who have completed adaptation training will be deployed to the front lines of the battlefield, and the dispatch of additional troops is said to continue until the end of the year.
We looked at the North Korean military training and garrison site located in the Russian Far East using Google Earth satellite photos along with a recent National Intelligence Service press release.
◆North Korean special forces maritime movement route
In a press release released on October 18, the National Intelligence Service announced that four landing ships and three frigates belonging to the Russian Pacific Fleet transported about 1,500 North Korean special forces to Vladivostok, Russia in early to mid-October. As for the maritime movement route, North Korean troops are known to have gathered in areas near Chongjin, Heungnam, and Musudan and moved on Russian naval transport ships. The first stopover, Vladivostok Port, is 240km by sea from Cheongjin Port, 340km from Musudan, and 540km from Heungnam Port. It is understood that North Korean troops are distributed to four Russian Far East garrisons, including Vladivostok, a stopover, and are receiving adaptation training.
◆Training and stationing of North Korean troops in the Russian Far East
It is confirmed that North Korean troops were trained and stationed in four places in the Russian Far East: Vladivostok, Usrysk, Khabarovsk, and Blagovenshesk. It appears that the troops moved on the Eurasian train, and the straight-line distances are understood to be 70km, 670km, and 860km from Vladivostok, respectively.
Among the four Russian military bases, we looked at two of them – Usrysk and Khabarovsk, where training and stationing sites were identified – by referring to the National Intelligence Service press release and zooming in on Google Earth satellite photos.
◆North Korea’s elite special forces ‘Storm Corps’ training and station (Usrysk)
Jacob Bogle, an American civilian satellite expert, revealed on Radio Free Asia (FRA) on October 18 that the Usrysk training site reported by the National Intelligence Service was the base of Russia’s 83rd Independent Airborne Brigade. Jacob Bogle identified the characteristics of the Russian unit through DB data and GIS analysis. The National Intelligence Service announced that about 400 North Korean troops are gathered at the parade ground at the Usrysk base. Considering that this is an airborne brigade base, it is believed that North Korean troops also receive airborne special forces training here.
North Korean troops are known to belong to the elite 11th Corps, also known as the ‘Storm Corps’. It is an elite special unit under the Special Operations Forces of the Korean People’s Army and is equivalent to Korea’s special forces. It was founded on the basis of the 124th Unit, which caused the attack on the Blue House on January 21, 1986, and when war breaks out, its main mission is to infiltrate deep behind enemy lines, cause disruption and confusion, destroy major facilities, assassinate key figures, and carry out guerrilla warfare.
Meanwhile, on March 15th, during an airborne unit (Airborne Ground Forces) training held somewhere in North Korea, there were reports that parachutes became entangled due to strong winds and did not open properly, causing about 10 members to fall vertically and die. On this day, Kim Jong-un observed airlift training with his daughter Joo-ae, and is said to have watched in real time as special operations soldiers fell from the sky like leaves in a cold wind and lives were lost.
◆North Korean armored unit training and station (Khabarovsk)
The National Intelligence Service said in a press release that about 240 North Korean troops were gathered at a Russian military facility in Khabarovsk. This is where the headquarters and training range of the Russian 240th Tank Regiment are located, and it is understood that the North Korean special forces ‘Storm Corps’ are trained and stationed there. Based on data disclosed by Jacob Bogle to Radio Free Asia, the location and appearance of the Russian tank regiment headquarters and shooting range are confirmed.
It is said that the ‘Storm Corps’ soldiers who will be sent to the battlefield have been trained through high-intensity practical training and are very skilled in mountainous terrain operations on the Korean Peninsula. However, since Ukraine’s terrain is an open area with few mountains and the front lines are open on all sides, it is questionable whether the North Korean guerrilla special forces’ ambush and surprise operations activities will be effective in the European battlefield. Some domestic and foreign military experts predict that they will become bullets on the front lines.
There was criticism from some in the political circles that the NIS’s recent disclosure of the source and content of information on North Korea’s troop dispatch was a hasty disclosure. The Russian side criticized the fact that the military training site could be changed to another area and concealed based on the information exposed this time. The author would like to dismiss this as nothing more than inertial caviling by the political world. In the past, the U.S. Department of Defense also captured a reconnaissance satellite photo showing a weapons-loading train running between Dumangang Station and Hassan Station, and the U.S. released this as evidence of North Korea-Russia arms trade.
This disclosure by the National Intelligence Service was timely. Subsequently, there were successive reports from Ukraine confirming the fact that ‘North Korea troops were dispatched’, solidifying it as a fait accompli, and reports coming out acknowledging and confirming it in other countries as well. If this report had been reported first in Ukraine, some political circles would have poured out a long series of criticisms pointing out their incompetence and our security authorities and the current administration. In a dissatisfied group with a crooked perspective, everything in the world is unpleasant and all that stands out is intellectual criticism. Our security authorities do not think there is a need to pay much attention to the criticism and criticism from some political circles. The political world is worried about the urgent war situation in Ukraine and the security of the Korean Peninsula linked to it, and the first thing they should really do is to put their heads together and deliberate on emergency measures.
Source: www.dailynk.com
