Families of North Korean soldiers in Russia face fear, anxiety 

washington — 

North Korean defectors accidental Pyongyang has apt kept the deployment of that nation’s soldiers to combat successful Russia’s warfare against Ukraine arsenic a concealed from its ain people, including the soldiers’ ain families, but the quality volition undoubtedly leak out, causing anxiousness and pain.

Western quality officials estimation that arsenic galore arsenic 10,000 North Korean soldiers are present successful place, chiefly successful locations astir Russia’s Kursk portion wherever Ukrainian forces person captured immoderate Russian territory, and that the troops person already suffered combat casualties.

"North Korean mothers who sent their children to Russia indispensable consciousness unimaginable pain,” said Kim Jeong-ah, a North Korean defector and erstwhile archetypal lieutenant successful the North Korean People's Army who spoke to VOA Korean by telephone Wednesday.

“It drives you crazy; however other tin you explicit that feeling?” said Kim, herself a parent who present runs a nonprofit successful Seoul that promotes women’s rights successful North Korea. “They cannot adjacent outcry arsenic hard arsenic you privation astatine home, due to the fact that there’s nary soundproof walls betwixt houses.”

Kim, who escaped North Korea successful 2009, said, "The families of those North Korean soldiers successful Russia indispensable beryllium suffering without being capable to explicit their grievances owed to unit from the North Korean regime.”

Rising quality rights concerns

It is wide believed that the Kim Jong Un authorities mobilized its elite “Storm Corps” peculiar forces to enactment Russia.

Lee Hyun Seung, a erstwhile worker successful the Storm Corps portion and an escapee who present lives successful the U.S., told VOA Korean successful a telephone telephone Wednesday that “the North Korean authorities does not pass families of overseas deployments, portion locations oregon idiosyncratic information issues,” for fearfulness of leaking subject secrets.

Lee suggested that quality of the deployment is apt already spreading by connection of rima among residents, and that “there volition surely beryllium interior absorption among residents to this wide usurpation of quality rights — deploying the troops without announcement to the families.”

“Rumors volition dispersed quickly, and if the families who were not alert of the deployment find retired their sons were sacrificed, this volition beryllium a immense stroke to the regime.”

In a caller speech hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies successful Washington, Tae Young-ho, erstwhile North Korean diplomat who served successful South Korea’s National Assembly aft his defection, said though Pyongyang is keeping the deployment secret, North Korean unit fatalities volition beryllium hard to support from nationalist view.

Tae besides said that North Korea has a precise debased commencement rate, with families having lone 1 oregon 2 children, truthful parents volition not beryllium capable to judge the information that their children died defending Russia, not their ain country.

Lack of training, resources

Lee Woong-gil, who defected from North Korea aft 13 years of work with the Storm Corps, told VOA Korean by telephone that helium had heard that the grooming conditions and capabilities of North Korean peculiar forces person deteriorated, compared with erstwhile helium served.

“If you look astatine the photos and videos [of North Korean soldiers successful Russia], they don't look similar the best-trained peculiar forces soldiers, they conscionable look similar soldiers who came retired during training,” Lee said. “They didn’t look precise fit, and they looked similar run-of-the-mill soldiers who were conscionable drafted during training.”

North Korea is 1 of the astir militarized countries successful the world. All men betwixt the ages of 17 and 30 indispensable enlist for subject work for a play of 5 to 13 years.

Lee besides said it is precise hard for the North Korean authorities to supply due economical compensation to deployed troops and their families, adding “the lone happening North Korean soldiers tin anticipation for is the information of themselves and their families.”

Lee predicted that erstwhile faced with utmost symptom and fearfulness of death, North Korean soldiers successful Russia would consciousness agitated and would highly apt surrender during combat oregon effort to flight and adjacent question asylum.

Risk of terrible trauma

Oh Eun-kyung, a counsellor astatine the Korean Counseling Psychological Association successful Seoul, who counsels North Korean defectors, said successful a telephone telephone with VOA Korean connected Monday that North Korean soldiers deployed successful Russia are highly apt to endure from terrible trauma owed to intelligence stress.

“The intelligence isolation and helplessness of not being capable to bash thing volition summation among the families near down successful North Korea,” said Oh. “The families' choler astatine the regime's anti-human rights measures could service arsenic a trigger for large societal unrest wrong North Korea.”

David Maxwell, a erstwhile U.S. Special Forces colonel who served connected the U.N.’s Combined Forces Command successful South Korea, told VOA Korean by telephone that North Korean soldiers who person ne'er participated successful existent battles are being sent to the beforehand line, risking vulnerability to adjacent much superior trauma.

“They volition endure from post-traumatic accent disorder. They volition endure from traumatic experience, but they person been truthful thoroughly indoctrinated ... that I don't deliberation you volition spot it manifest successful ways that it does successful the remainder of the world,” said Maxwell, who present is vice president of the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy. “They surely volition not beryllium decently cared for [to woody with] the experience.”

War without conscionable cause

Ri Jong Ho, a North Korean defector present successful the U.S. and a erstwhile high-ranking economical authoritative for the Kim regime, said Pyongyang volition not publically admit the Russia deployment, fixed its anemic justification.

"When North Korea sent troops to Vietnam, our extremity was to support the socialist front; it was the Cold War backmost then,” Ri told VOA Korean by telephone Wednesday.

North Korea has agelong denied that it sent members of its aerial unit into the Vietnam War, though it was belatedly confirmed successful 2002 erstwhile North Korean authorities media reported that a delegation had retrieved remains of North Korean airmen from Vietnamese soil.

“They don't person immoderate justification this time,” Ri said. “They participated successful the warfare of aggression. The North Korean soldiers are conscionable determination arsenic cannon fodder.”

This communicative originated successful VOA's Korean Service.