SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Thousands of young people soldiers that North Korea has sent to Russiasupposedly to help fight Ukraine, they are mostly elite special forces, but that hasn’t stopped speculation that they will be massacred because they have no combat experience, are unfamiliar with the terrain, and will likely be dropped on the fiercest of places. . battlefields.

That may be true, and soon. Observers say troops are already arriving at the front. However, from the North Korean perspective, these soldiers might not be as miserable as foreigners think. In fact, they may view their Russia tour with pride and as a rare opportunity to make big money, see a foreign country for the first time and get preferential treatment for their families at home, according to former North Korean soldiers.

“They are too young and won’t understand exactly what it means. They will simply consider it an honor to be selected to go to Russia among the many North Korean soldiers,” said Lee Woong-gil, a former member of the same special forces unit, the Storm Corps. He arrived in South Korea in 2007. “But I think most of them probably won’t come home alive.”

Concerns about North Korea’s likely involvement The war between Russia and Ukraine was highlighted this week when the Pentagon said North Korea has sent about 10,000 troops to Russia and will likely fight Ukraine “over the next few weeks.” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Monday that some North Korean military units were already in Russia’s Kursk border region, where Russia has been fighting a Ukrainian incursion.

North Korean troop deployment could mark a serious escalation of the nearly three-year war. It took many outside observers by surprise because North Korea has its own security headache, a bitter standoff with the United States and South Korea over its nuclear program.

Heavy North Korean troop casualties would be a serious political blow to the country’s 40-year-old ruler. Kim Jong Un. But experts say Kim could see this as a way to get much-needed hard currency and security support from Russia in exchange for joining Russia’s war against Ukraine.

“Kim Jong Un is taking a big risk. If there are not a large number of victims, he will get what he wants to a certain extent. But things will change a lot if many of their soldiers die in battle,” said Ahn Chan-il, a former first lieutenant in the North Korean army who is now head of the World Institute of North Korean Studies think tank in Seoul.

The Storm Corps, also known as the 11th Corps, is one of Kim’s main units. Their main missions would be to infiltrate agents in South Korea, blow up important facilities in the South and assassinate key figures in the event of war on the Korean Peninsula.

Lee, who served in the Storm Corps from 1998 to 2003, recalled that his unit received better food and supplies than other units, but many members still suffered from malnutrition and tuberculosis.

Despite a gradual economic recovery In North Korea over the past 30 years, defectors say the average monthly salary of North Korean workers and soldiers is less than $1. They say many people engage in capitalist market activities to earn a living because the country’s state rationing system remains largely broken.

Russia is expected to pay all costs related to the deployment of North Korean troops, including their salaries, which observers estimate will be at least $2,000 a month for each person. About 90% to 95% of their stipends will likely go to Kim’s coffers and the rest to the soldiers. This means that a North Korean soldier would earn between $1,200 and $2,400 for a year of service in Russia. That’s big enough to prompt many young soldiers to volunteer for risky tours of Russia, former soldiers say.

Ahn said North Korea will likely offer other incentives aimed at raising soldiers’ social standing, such as membership in the ruling Workers’ Party and the right to move to Pyongyang, the country’s capital. Kang Mi-Jin, a defector who runs a company that analyzes North Korea’s economy, said even relatives of soldiers sent to Russia could receive benefits such as good houses or access to good universities.

Choi Jung-hoon, a former first lieutenant in North Korea’s army, said serving on foreign soil will attract many soldiers who are eager to see other countries for the first time.

North Koreans are prohibited from accessing foreign news and need state approval to move from one province to another within the country. North Korean construction, logging and other workers sent abroad to bring in hard currency have often been called “slaves” by international human rights groups. But defectors testify that those jobs abroad are often better than staying in North Korea, and many used bribes and family connections to get them.

“North Korean soldiers would see going to Russia as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Ahn said.

Ahn and other observers say those opinions could change if soldiers see large numbers of their colleagues die. They say many North Korean soldiers could surrender to Ukrainian forces and ask for Resettlement in South Korea.

North Korean soldiers have been trained in the mountainous terrain of the Korean Peninsula and are unfamiliar with the largely flat battlefields of the Russia-Ukraine war. They also do not understand modern warfare, including the use of drones, because North Korea has not fought a major battle since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, experts say.

“My heart hurt,” said Choi, now the leader of an activist group in Seoul, when he saw a Ukraine video It supposedly shows small North Korean soldiers believed to be between 10 and 20 years old.

“No one would think that they would go to Russia to die,” Choi said. “But I think they are cannon fodder because they will be sent to the most dangerous places and they will surely be killed.”

Leader Kim Jong Un may also hope that his troop offer will prompt Russia to share the sophisticated and highly sensitive technology it needs to hone its nuclear-capable missiles. That transfer could depend on how long the war lasts and how many more troops Kim sends.

Nam Sung-wook, former head of a think tank run by South Korea’s spy agency, said North Korea will likely receive hundreds of millions of dollars from soldiers’ salaries. Soldiers will gain direct experience in modern warfare, but they will likely die in large numbers, and Russia will be reluctant to hand over its high-tech missile technology, he said.

“North Korea will continue to hide its troop shipments from its own people because the public will become agitated if it knows that its soldiers are being sent abroad to be killed,” said Nam, who is now a professor at Korea University in South Korea. .