North Korea has sent thousands of its soldiers to Russia to fight against Ukraine. According to South Korean intelligence, this agreement will largely cover the financial and food crises of the DPRK. This was reported by The Korea Herald, according to UNN.
Details
Congressman and former South Korean Ambassador to Russia Wee Sung-luck, citing intelligence data, noted that the agreement on the participation of DPRK troops in the war against Ukraine is beneficial for Pyongyang.
South Korea's National Intelligence Service told parliamentarians that each North Korean soldier sent to fight on the side of Russia will be paid a monthly salary of about $2000. It is believed that at least 10,000 DPRK soldiers are headed to Ukraine, which means that the total annual payment will be more than $200 million.
In addition to the military, according to intelligence, there are about 4,000 North Korean workers in Russia. It is believed that their average salary is about $800 per month.
Wu also said that under the agreement, Russia will also provide Pyongyang with food aid. According to him, the DPRK annually produces less than 4 million tons of grain such as rice, barley and wheat. But rice is believed to account for less than a third of the total, the congressman noted.
The four million tons of grain that North Korea says it produces per year is actually 1 million tons less than it needs to feed the country. If Russia offers 600-700 thousand tons of rice, this is enough to cover more than half of what the DPRK needs to meet its annual demand
He added that now that Russia is buying artillery shells from the DPRK, the food shortage is likely to be compensated for through arms trade. “By selling a few containers of artillery shells, Pyongyang can afford much more than hundreds of thousands of tons of rice,” the congressman said.
Переговори рф та КНДР: чим глави МЗС лякають світ01.11.24, 14:25
The intelligence service also told parliament that Moscow is also helping North Korea with advanced space technology as Pyongyang seeks to launch another military reconnaissance satellite.
In addition, the agreement will allow North Korea to fight alongside Russia on the Korean Peninsula in case of unforeseen circumstances, Wee Sung-luck added.
If war ever breaks out on the Korean Peninsula, the DPRK will be able to count on Russia to come to the rescue,
Recall
Russia deployed more than 7,000 DPRK soldiers to the border with Ukraine on 28 military transport boards. The soldiers were armed with mortars, assault rifles, machine guns, and other weapons.