“There are reports that 100,000 North Korean volunteers are ready to come and take part in the conflict and North Korean builders are ready to work alongside ours [to repair war damage],” the Russian defense expert said in a live chat on Russia’s Channel One, the New York Post reported. Calling North Korean troops “resilient, undemanding and motivated,” the Russian journalist said the Kremlin “shouldn’t be ashamed to accept the hand extended to us by Kim Jong Un.” “If the North Korean volunteers with their artillery systems, rich experience with anti-war batteries and large-caliber multiple launch missile systems, made in North Korea want to join the conflict, let’s give the green light to their volunteer push.” said Mr. Korotchenko. He said that if “North Korea expresses a desire to fulfill its international duty to fight against Ukrainian fascism, we should let it,” and added that both nations have the sovereign right to sign the relevant agreements. It was not immediately clear how North Korea offered military aid to Russia, as the war in Ukraine has been going on for more than five months. Ranked as the fourth largest in the world, North Korea’s military force has nearly 1.3 million active personnel, the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations said. In addition, 600,000 serve as reservists in the military. However, a South Korean report said the North is already preparing to send its workers to the pro-Russian Donbas region in eastern Ukraine to help rebuild the region. Pyongyang plans to send these workers at the right time as they continue to monitor the situation on the ground, a North Korean source told the report. Military aid to Russia from North Korea could prove useful in its invasion of Ukraine, which has dragged on for months against Moscow’s expectations of capturing Kyiv in less time. This resulted in a loss of morale, troops and resources for Russia, experts pointed out. MI6 chief Richard Moore had said Vladimir Putin had suffered an “epic failure” in Ukraine and his military was “running out of steam”. The head of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) said the war is “clearly not over” but the Russian invaders may have to “pause” in the coming weeks. “I think he has suffered a strategic failure in Ukraine. It’s obviously not over,” Mr Moore said last month.
