On July 13, and after Russia and Syria, North Korea officially recognized as independent countries the people’s republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, ie the two pro-Russian separatist regions located in the south- eastern Ukraine and currently occupied by Russian forces. In response, kyiv immediately severed diplomatic relations with Pyongyang.
Then, a week later, the Russian ambassador to North Korea, Alexander Matsegora, told the Izvestia newspaper that Pyongyang could send “workers” to Donbass in order to help rebuild this region. [qui couvre celles de Donetsk et de Louhansk, ndlr]. “Highly skilled, hardworking and ready to work under the harshest conditions, Korean laborers will be an asset in the serious task of restoring destroyed social, infrastructural and industrial facilities,” he said.
It must be said that relations between Moscow and Pyongyang are good… In 2012, Russia canceled 90% of North Korea’s debt [soit 11 milliards de dollars] and took steps to strengthen economic and scientific cooperation with North Korea.
However, in the United Nations Security Council, Russia also voted for sanctions targeting North Korea’s nuclear program… Sanctions which, by the way, have in no way prevented North Korea from developing its activities… given that they are easily bypassed.
Moreover, stricto sensu, the project mentioned by Mr. Matsegora would not repudiate the commitments made by Russia with regard to these sanctions. Thus, resolution 2397, which it passed after the firing of a North Korean Hwasong-15 intercontinental missile, specifies that “Member States must repatriate all nationals of this country [la Corée du Nord, ndlr] who work in the territories under their jurisdiction within a period of 24 months from 22 December 2017”.
As they are not members of the United Nations and they are not officially under the jurisdiction of Russia, the republics of Donetsk and Luhansk could therefore consider that they are theoretically not obliged to respect this resolution…
Either way, according to the NK News site, which focuses on North Korean news, Pyongyang would have approved a plan to send “volunteer workers” to the Donbass. But it could be that this help goes further.
Today on Russian state TV, military pundit Igor Korotchenko is saying how great it would be for “North Korean volunteers” to come to Donbas, not only to help rebuild cities destroyed in the war, but also to fight alongside Russia pic.twitter.com/oMO94YMcWO
— Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr) August 4, 2022
Indeed, Igor Korotchenko, a Russian military expert on the channel “Rossiya 1”, suggested that North Korea could also deploy fighters to fight alongside Russian forces, among the “100,000 volunteers » [selon lui, ndlr] that Pyongyang would plan to send to Donbass. The figure he gave had previously been put forward by the Russian news agency “Regnum”.
“If North Korea wants to participate in the conflict, well, let’s give it the green light,” Korochenko said.
In exchange for its military aid, North Korea would obtain grain and energy from Russia. Which, for once, would constitute a violation of UN sanctions. Moreover, it would be a means of returning favor to Moscow which, during the Korean War [1950-53] sent 26,000 Red Army soldiers to the Korean peninsula.
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