For years, North Korea’s military has helped its leader, Kim Jong-un, maintain control and deal with the country’s sworn enemy, South Korea. With 1.3 million members, the North Korean military is among the largest conventional armed forces in the world.

At present, with more than 11,000 North Korean troops fighting alongside Russian forces against Ukraine, it plays a more important role in Kim’s geopolitical game for his necessary pursuits and diplomatic reinforcements.

The troops sent by North Korea are from the Storm Corps, the special forces that are among the military’s best trained and most loyal, the New York Times reports. But they were unprepared for drone attacks and the unfamiliar terrain far from their isolated homeland, according to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service.

More than 100 were killed and another 1,000 wounded in their first fighting, South Korea’s intelligence agency said. In fact, according to the same source, an officer may be among the dead, according to Lee Seong-kweun, a lawmaker who spoke to reporters after the closed-door briefing.

South Korea’s intelligence agency said Kim appeared to be preparing to send more troops to Russia as it eyes Europe’s biggest conflict since

What are the weaknesses of North Korean troops

North Korean special forces are primarily trained for sniper missions, urban warfare, and infiltration by sea, air. They are not trained enough for drone and trench warfare conducted in terrain such as the mostly open and flat Russia-Ukraine front line, said Doo Jin-ho, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyzes in Seoul.

For two years during the pandemic, when North Korea closed its borders, its special forces took turns guarding along the country’s border with China, missing out on some of their tactical training, Doo said.

The deployment of North Korean troops has been so rushed that it could take time for Russia to properly integrate them into its military, South Korean intelligence officials said. They were thrust into battle after learning military terms such as “open fire,” “artillery,” and “in position” in Russian, possibly creating problems with battlefield communications.

“The North Korean army has not had real combat experiences for decades,” said Ahn Chan-il, a former North Korean army sergeant who lives in South Korea.

Who is responsible?

Kim Jong Un, once described by outside observers as young and inexperienced, has emerged as a powerful leader who rules with a “reign of terror.”

His father and predecessor, Kim Jong-il, turned the country into a military state. It relied on the Korean People’s Army to hold the country together in the wake of a famine in the 1990s. In return, the country was able to amass state resources as well as run profitable activities such as mining, fishing and smuggling.

Once Kim took over after his father’s death in 2011 he moved to subdue the military elites, exiling or executing top generals. In 2015, General Hyon Yong-chol, then Minister of Defense, was executed.

In 2017, Kim sidelined Vice Marshal Hwang Pyong-So, the military’s top civilian officer. For two months, Huang was forced to sweep the front yard of a party building in Pyongyang.

North Korean officials live in constant fear because they never know when they might fall prey to Kim Jong Un’s impulsiveness.

Outside analysts are keeping a close eye on who accompanies Kim on his tours of military units and weapons testing sites in an effort to gather clues as to who may – or may not – be on his side.

In September, analysts began to notice two new faces in the circle of top officials around Kim: General Kim Jong-bok and Colonel General Ri Chang-ho. Their importance to Kim was revealed when they later accompanied the troops to Russia.

General Kim was the commander of special forces during a military parade in 2017, according to Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul. General Ri headed the military’s General Reconnaissance Bureau, which is involved in arms trade, cybercrime and other illegal activities that make profits for Kim.

On Monday, the United States and its allies blacklisted the two generals for their roles in the Russia war.

Soldiers risk their lives for glory

The soldiers sent to Russia were probably from poor families. The opportunity to go abroad and the prospect of money can be huge incentives for them. Russia may be paying up to $2,000 a month per North Korean soldier, according to South Korea’s intelligence agency. Although the government is expected to take the majority, the rest can be a huge amount for a common soldier.

North Korea has also lured soldiers fighting on the front lines with the promise of quick membership in the Workers’ Party.

“The troops had little hope for their future in North Korea,” said Kim Kwang-Jin, another North Korean defector who works as a senior analyst at the government’s National Security Strategy Institute in Seoul. “They go there at the risk of their lives, but they will also see it as an opportunity to make money and, if they are killed, to raise the social status of their family.”

Even if they had serious objections, Kim’s total control would make protest impossible.

“North Korea takes casualties for granted,” said Sim Ju-il, a former lieutenant colonel in the North Korean army who lives in Seoul. “he considers them to be the unavoidable cost of gaining experience in modern warfare should he have to fight against the United States Army in Korea.”