Media: DPRK to deploy engineer troops to Ukraine in July

Russia will soon engage North Korean engineer troops to perform tasks in the occupied territories of Ukraine.

The South Korean edition of TV Chosun reported on this, citing sources in its own government.

It is expected that in July of this year, units of the DPRK Army’s “Engineer Corps,” in cooperation with Russian troops, will be deployed to the occupied territories of the Donetsk region.

There, they are supposed to support the reconstruction project of the destroyed territories, but the publication emphasizes that military units can have a significant impact on the course of hostilities in the Russian-Ukrainian war.

“North Korea is expected to deploy engineer troops to Donetsk next month. The goal is to rebuild the city, which has been destroyed by the fighting,” an unnamed South Korean government official shared with the newspaper.

The article notes that North Korea has previously sent its military personnel from the “Corps of Engineers” to various foreign regions, including Kuwait. They disguised themselves as employees of Namgang Construction, although they were de facto entirely under the control of the army command.

North Korea used such units as an element of foreign currency inflow for the sanctioned country.

“Soldiers of the deployed engineer troops will receive an income of about $800 per month. It is also a way for the DPRK to earn foreign currency,” the official says.

On June 19, Russia and the DPRK signed a strategic partnership agreement, which also includes military assistance to each other in case of aggression.

According to Article 4 of the Russian-North Korean treaty, if one of the countries is invaded and is at war, the other must “immediately use all means” to provide “military and other assistance.”

Given the possible risks, the United States said it would monitor the potential deployment of the DPRK military to help Russia in its war against Ukraine.

“That’s certainly something to keep an eye on. I think that if I were North Korean military personnel management, I would be questioning my choices on sending my forces to be cannon fodder in an illegal war against Ukraine. And we’ve seen the kinds of casualties that Russian forces – so – but again, something that we’ll keep an eye on,” Gen. Pat Ryder stated.