North Korean Defectors Ready To Join Ukraine's Fight Against Putin

We're ready to go wherever needed to work as psychological warfare agents—through loudspeaker broadcasts, distributing leaflets, and even acting as interpreters,

Ahn said

Sabrina Singhpentagon deputy press secretary

A portion of those soldiers have already moved closer to Ukraine,

Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said in a briefing on Monday

We are all military veterans who understand North Korea's military culture and psychological state better than anyone else,

a North Korean defector, 69-year-old Ahn Chan-il, told the South China Morning Post's This Week in Asia in an article published on Monday

It appears that they disguised themselves as Russian soldiers to hide the fact that they were deployed to the battlefield,

the agency said

Given their numbers, it is possible that they will have an impact on the conduct of hostilities in certain areas,

Artem Kholodkevych, the deputy commander of Ukraine’s 61st Mechanized Brigade, told the Times

This is our sovereign decision."

The Russian president sidestepped the question about the North deploying troops, saying

Vladimir Putinrussian President

Whether we use it or not, where, how, or whether we engage in exercises, training, or transfer some experience. It’s our business,

Mr Putin told reporters

If we see DPRK troops moving in towards the front lines, they are co-belligerents in the war,

Ms Singh said, using the acronym for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or North Korea

The Russian military was teaching the North Korean military some 100 Russian military terms such as 'back to your position,' 'fire' and 'launch'...but the North Korean military was struggling (to understand),

added Lee, who said

To conduct combat operations with an allied force that doesn't speak your language presents real problems,

said Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., an expert in North Korean defense at the Center for International and Strategic Studies

He has no fucking clue what to do with them,

one voice said about a responsible officer

Oh, who the fuck knows, ... We did get the rations for everyone but they won't give us the ammunition."

he says, later saying

It is rather surprising that Russia would want such troops in combat, considering the probable logistic and other challenges that integrating such troops into Russian combat operations will likely entail,

he said

But if those troops are deployed against the Ukrainian forces inside the Kursk salient, where you've got 25, 30,000 Ukrainian forces spread out in this area, and those North Korean troops punch in there in a concentrated way, they're going to take casualties, certainly, but they could have a decided impact,

Clark said

Most North Korean soldiers, including elite special forces, suffer from food shortages and malnutrition. The soldiers you see on televised parades are a carefully selected few — they’re the alpha of the entire population,

said Ahn, who defected in 1979

Well, first of all, geopolitically speaking, it's a big escalation. It brings North Korea into the conflict in a more direct way. And so this is a concern to all of the nations, to NATO, to South Korea, to Japan, even China would be concerned about this. So that's the big picture,

Clark told Van Susteren

On the tactical side, 10,000 troops, it's not enough to move the needle overall because you've got hundreds of thousands of troops deployed,

he added, but with a caveat

North Korean soldiers are there essentially as mercenaries, but we would go as volunteers with a goodwill mission. Simply our presence in Ukraine could significantly impact the morale of North Korean troops,

he said