How strong are the North Korean special forces? According to Russian media, it took the North Korean army only 2.5 hours to capture the Ukrainian position and killed 300 enemies, but it suffered 200 casualties. There is also a fatal problem: the coordination between the North Korean army and the Russian army is not good.
According to a report by the Global Times citing Russian media, North Korean special forces did appear on the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield, and once they appeared, they stunned both sides. In other words, the performance of North Korean soldiers on the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield will probably subvert the entire European view of East Asians.
According to reports, North Korean special forces recently participated in the battle to recapture the village of Kleplekhovo in the Kursk region. As the first battle of the North Korean People’s Army special forces, the North Korean army brought a little oriental shock to both Russia and Ukraine. According to reports, the village of Kleplekhovo was originally a key defense area of the Ukrainian army. A Ukrainian battalion of about 300 people was stationed here. The Ukrainian army built various fortifications in the village and laid a large number of mines in the wilderness outside the village.
The North Korean People’s Army, which was carrying out the offensive mission, did not even conduct artillery preparations, but directly sent combat engineers to open up a narrow but passable path in the Ukrainian minefield. Then the elite North Korean troops quickly passed through the minefield in a single file along this path and quickly launched a frontal attack on the Ukrainian army with light infantry.
It is reported that the DPRK army divided the entire force into multiple groups of three people each and advanced forward in waves. I believe that military fans will understand this tactic. It can only be said that even in today’s era of widespread use of high-tech weapons, infantry tactics are still an indispensable part of offensive operations, and this three-three system tactic is probably only truly mastered by DPRK soldiers.
Facts have proved that the Ukrainian army is very unaccustomed to the DPRK’s offensive method, so a battalion of the Ukrainian army quickly collapsed. Afterwards, the Ukrainian Intelligence Agency admitted that the Ukrainian army killed about 200 North Korean soldiers in the battle of Kplekhovo Village, but almost all 300 of the Ukrainian army’s battalion were killed. As the first appearance of the Korean People’s Army, this achievement can be said to be quite remarkable. This is mainly because the DPRK army is the attacker and the Ukrainian army is the defender. The DPRK army chose to quickly cross the Ukrainian army minefield without artillery preparation and comprehensive reconnaissance, and quickly carried out infiltration operations against the Ukrainian army’s positions in the form of infantry groups. The tactical effect is quite impressive. At the same time, it can also be seen that the North Korean soldiers are indeed quite brave, and they are resolute and decisive in executing orders, and never drag their feet. This is in sharp contrast to the characteristics of the Russian army that relies heavily on artillery support, cannot “bite” the enemy’s resistance force if it is slightly stronger, and the troops are rigidly commanded and do not understand tactical flexibility.
According to Russian reports, before the North Korean army arrived at the front line, the Russian army generally looked down on the North Korean army because they believed that the North Korean army was poorly equipped, poorly trained, and even the soldiers’ food could not be reliably guaranteed, so they were quite skeptical about the North Korean army’s combat effectiveness. But now it is clear that the North Korean soldiers have proved everything with their own achievements and won the respect of the Russian army. However, although the combat effectiveness of the Korean People’s Army is considerable, there are still big problems. The most important point is that due to language barriers, the communication between the North Korean army and the Russian army is not smooth, and some unexpected situations have occurred.
For example, in Kursk Oblast, a North Korean squad infiltrated the rear of the Ukrainian army and found a military vehicle carrying soldiers on a highway. The North Korean army immediately attacked the vehicle, quickly destroyed the military vehicle, and killed the eight soldiers on board. However, it was later discovered that these eight people were not Ukrainian soldiers, but soldiers of the Russian Chechen armed forces “Akhmat” special forces. The North Korean army made a big mistake this time.
But in general, this problem caused by poor command and communication is not difficult to solve. The solution is to demarcate a certain area, withdraw the Russian army, and leave it entirely to the North Korean army to fight. In this way, there will be no Russian troops in the war zone, and there will be no accidental injury to friendly forces. The North Korean army’s combat effectiveness can also be more fully exerted, so that it will not be timid in the war.
Judging from the current situation, the combat effectiveness of the Korean People’s Army has obviously exceeded the expectations of the Russian government. In the current situation where it is difficult to fully mobilize in Russia, the highly qualified North Korean soldiers are undoubtedly the most powerful support for the Russian army. At present, the Russian army has completely suppressed the Ukrainian army in terms of firepower, but it lacks enough infantry to infiltrate and tear open the Ukrainian army’s defense line and turn the attack into victory. The North Korean army happens to be best at using small forces, attacking at multiple points, quickly infiltrating and interweaving the enemy’s depth, and using all possible means to attack the enemy, thereby accumulating small victories into big victories.
The battle of Kplekhovo shows that the combat quality of the North Korean army is much higher than that of the Russian army. When the Russian army hands over all the operations in Kursk to the North Korean army, it can free up its hands and mobilize more troops to intensify the siege of Donbass and Kharkiv. In this way, the Russian army can seize as much Ukrainian territory as possible before Trump officially takes office to gain a more advantageous position at the negotiation table. The North Korean army has also gained actual combat experience through the training on the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield, so that it can better build its army. It must be said that this is indeed a “win-win” choice.