Russia-DPRK agreement is, in fact, strategic military alliance - Defense Express

This was stated by military expert and editor-in-chief of Defense Express, Oleh Katkov, on the Espreso TV channel.

‘The text of the agreement does not contain any additional secret clauses, it is clearly written there: in the case of war with one of the parties, that is, either with the Russian Federation or the DPRK, the other party provides any military assistance it deems necessary with all resources. The treaty, which is currently being ratified, will be signed. The only question is when it will happen, as Putin personally ordered: in 5 minutes, a day or two. The process has already been launched, although they are violating international law with this treaty because they believe that if a country is subject to sanctions, they simply ignore them. The treaty should be seen as an exclusively strategic military alliance, which is being finalized between Moscow and Pyongyang,’ he said.

The answer if the DPRK can send troops to Russia may depend on whether there will be a war between the two Koreas. At the moment, quite interesting events are taking place on the Korean peninsula, which may resemble preparations for full-scale hostilities, Katkov said.

‘At first, the DPRK announced that it wanted to revise the maritime border with South Korea and move it further south. Seoul explicitly said that it was ready to defend its borders at the cost of blood. Amid this, Pyongyang accused South Korea of sending unidentified drones to distribute leaflets. They say that if another drone appears in the airspace, the consequences will be catastrophic. Artillery units along the border have been put on full alert, and two roads connecting the DPRK and South Korea have been blown up,’ he said.

In a war scenario between the two Koreas, crossing the 38th parallel demilitarized zone, which is 4km wide and 250km long, would result in huge losses, Katkov said: 

‘This line is one of the most heavily mined and fortified with defensive structures on both sides. These are really huge resources and readiness for astronomical losses in any case. In one war scenario, the DPRK simply drives all its artillery to the front line and starts hitting South Korean cities. To put it in perspective, the center of Seoul is 40 km from the demilitarized zone, and the nearest densely populated suburbs are 10 km from this line,’ he explained.

• On October 4, the Kyiv Post reported that a missile strike on the occupied territory of Donetsk region killed 20 soldiers. Among them, in particular, were six soldiers from the DPRK who were consulting with the Russian army.
• On Tuesday, October 8, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun warned that North Korea could send its troops to Ukraine to support Russia.
• On October 13, it was reported that Russia continues to build allied relations with North Korea. In fact, it is about the transfer of North Korean military to the ranks of the Russian military forces.
• On October 15, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin submitted to the State Duma a draft law on the ratification of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement between Russia and the DPRK.
•  Suspilne reported that Russia was forming a ‘special Buryat battalion’ with DPRK citizens.