Link to article: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/zelenskiy-says-ready-hand-over-n-korean-soldiers-exchange-ukrainians-captive-2025-01-12/
On Sunday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated that Kyiv is willing to trade captive North Korean soldiers back to NK leader Kim Jong Un for exchange for Ukrainians held in Russia. On Saturday, Zelenskiy claimed that two North Koreans had been captured by Ukrainian forces. According to an interpreter, one North Korea troop claimed that he did not know they were fighting Ukrainians, but had been told they were simply participating in a training exercise. Zelenskiy claims that both Russia and North Korea have suffered heavy losses in their military forces. According to both Ukrainian and Western assessments, approximately 11,000 North Korean Troops have been deployed to the Kursk region of Russia to assist Putin’s forces; but Russia has interestingly not denied nor confirmed a North Korean presence.
This article highlights the continued effects of the war in Ukraine and its global implications beyond the region. North Korea’s involvement highlights a potentially dangerous alliance between two very revisionist powers that seek security through the expansion and exertion of their powers. By engaging in the Russo-Ukraine war, North Korea is engaging in its first instance of active warfare since the Korean War, suggesting that it may be building up to engage in a more regional conflict, such as against South Korea or in cooperation with Chinese military action. Moreover, North Korea’s intervention wouldn’t have the same effect as if a NATO country engaged on behalf of Ukraine; for example, if France sent troops, the US and all NATO countries would have to join, and Russia could be extremely aggressive in terms of Western Europe.
North Korea’s involvement in an out-of-region conflict demonstrates their urgency to introduce their military to an active conflict in order to prepare them for an on-peninsula conflict with South Korea. Russia’s eagerness to pull in Jun’s DPRK army highlights their desperation for outside assistance as their planned invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2022, has not gone quickly as anticipated. Ukraine’s willingness to send North Korean captives back to the country demonstrates fair treatment of prisoners of war, and in this case, the unique situation in which the NK troops did not know who or why they were in combat. Zelenskiy’s statement appears fair to the NK troops and even a courtesy to the dictatorship of North Korea.
International security is the current unit being discussed in class, which can be connected back to the themes and theories of IR. North Korea is very much taking a stance of offensive realism, putting their national interest at the forefront by exerting pressure and power outside of its borders through hard, military power by intervening in Russia. North Korea is a revisionist state that seeks to change the current status of power distribution throughout the world, and an alliance with the similarly aligned state of Russia allows for progress to be made to become more powerful. By building up its military and posturing using WMDs, North Korea becomes more powerful and intimidating to enemies in the region (South Korea, Japan) and competition across the world (NATO, USA).