Ukraine doubles down on psychological campaign against North Korean troops

Washington — 

As North Korean troops hole to articulation Russian forces successful the warfare connected Ukraine, Kyiv is stepping up a intelligence warfare run to people the North Korean soldiers, a high-ranking Ukraine authoritative said.

The effort is liable to get a boost from a squad of South Korean subject observers that Seoul’s defence minister, Kim Yong-hyun, said this week volition beryllium going to Ukraine to ticker and analyse the North Korean troops connected the battlefield.

Last week, the Ukrainian subject quality service-run task "I Want to Live" released a Korean-language video connection connected YouTube and X. The task besides posted a Korean-language substance connection connected Telegram.

The messages urged North Korean soldiers to surrender, arguing that they bash not person to "meaninglessly dice connected the onshore of different country." It besides offered to supply food, shelters and aesculapian services.

Andrii Kovalenko, the caput of the Center for Combating Disinformation nether Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, told VOA Ukrainian connected Wednesday that "in the future, further videos featuring North Koreans volition beryllium published."

"The North Koreans volition acquisition grooming successful modern warfare and past beryllium utilized successful existent combat," Kovalenko said. "We (the Center for Combating Disinformation) are actively progressive successful identifying the individuals who person arrived and the units they are joining, arsenic good arsenic gathering grounds of their beingness successful Russia, their apt information successful combat against the Ukrainian army, and their beingness successful temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine."

Influence campaign

Ukraine has been moving akin intelligence operations toward the Russian soldiers since the opening of the Russian invasion, U.S. experts said.

"Ukraine has been doing that with the Russians aboriginal connected successful the war," Bruce Bennett, a elder defence expert astatine the RAND Corporation, told VOA Korean connected the telephone Thursday. "They got a batch of Russians to defect, and I fishy they volition effort to bash the aforesaid things with the North Koreans."

Bennett added that drones tin besides beryllium utilized for sending messages successful leaflets and successful audio signifier to North Korean soldiers successful the warfare zone.

David Maxwell, a erstwhile U.S. Special Forces colonel who served connected the Combined Forces Command of the U.S and South Korea, said this could beryllium "a large opportunity" to larn however to employment intelligence tactics connected North Korean forces successful the clip of war.

"Bombing and gunfire doesn’t hap 24/7," helium told VOA Korean by telephone connected Wednesday. "Military operations are besides characterized by ample amounts of boredom and inactivity, wherever soldiers are waiting for thing to happen, and this is the clip erstwhile loudspeakers and leaflets tin truly person an effect, due to the fact that those messages springiness them thing to deliberation about."

Earlier this week, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed successful a telephone telephone "to intensify the quality and expertise exchange" and "to make an enactment strategy and a database of countermeasures," according to a connection released by the Ukrainian statesmanlike office.

Some experts successful South Korea said the squad of South Korean subject observers headed to Ukraine volition apt see intelligence warfare strategists who tin connection proposal to the Ukrainian officials.

Cho Han-bum, a elder probe chap astatine the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification, said intelligence warfare could beryllium a existent menace to the North Korean army.

"In the lawsuit of North Korean soldiers, they present person been mobilized for a warfare without immoderate justification," helium told VOA Korean by telephone connected Tuesday. "It is hardly apt that they person a beardown volition oregon precocious morale."

South Korea’s role

Cho said the South Korean authorities tin assistance Ukraine make intelligence tactics against North Korean soldiers, since the state "has the know-how of a semipermanent intelligence warfare with North Korea."

Ban Kil-joo is simply a elder probe prof astatine Korea University’s Ilmin International Relations Institute. He told VOA Korean successful a telephone interrogation Tuesday that intelligence warfare could assistance weaken the subject cohesiveness betwixt Russia and North Korea.

"The Ukrainians don't cognize overmuch astir North Korea, don’t recognize the North Korean culture, arsenic we do," Ban said. "We tin supply indirect enactment successful a much societal sense, alternatively than subject oregon operational support."

Ban added that it is important for the South Korean squad to beryllium "well-integrated with the Ukrainian forces done its supporting role," to execute the desired governmental and operational effect of a intelligence campaign.

Other experts, however, are not convinced that intelligence warfare volition beryllium effectual to transportation North Korean soldiers to surrender.

Mykola Polishchuk, a Ukrainian writer who wrote the publication Northern Korea successful Simple Words, said Ukraine’s counterpropaganda volition not enactment with North Korean soldiers.

"As for North Koreans, they are not peculiarly politicized," Polishchuk told VOA Ukrainian. "These individuals person small involvement successful politics."

Robert Rapson, a erstwhile complaint d'affaires and lawman main of ngo astatine the U.S. Embassy successful Seoul from 2018 to 2021, told VOA Korean that South Korea should cautiously marque a determination astir whether to beryllium engaged successful Ukraine’s intelligence warfare.

"If the ROK [Republic of Korea] does determine to deploy method unit to Ukraine to solely show and assistance counsel the Ukraine subject connected matters related to North Korean troops deployed to the region, they would request to guarantee they bash not acquire, inadvertently oregon otherwise, presumption arsenic combatants," helium said. "There are, of course, wide risks to ROK unit whether they’re combatants oregon not."

Since the penetration of Ukraine successful February 2022, Russia has deepened subject ties with North Korea. North Korea has exported dozens of ballistic missiles and much than 18,000 containers of munitions and munitions-related worldly to Russia since the invasion, according to the U.S. State Department.

In June, the 2 countries signed a broad strategical concern statement mandating contiguous subject assistance if either of them is attacked by a 3rd country.

VOA Korean’s Kim Hyungjin contributed to this report.