Kim Jong Un says his ‘heart aches’ over North Korean soldiers killed fighting for Russia, in rare admission of losses

2 comments

1. An ice cube also loses water when it melts. Doesn’t mean it feels something.

2. This is a huge PR win for Kim Jong Un, for both his domestic audience as well as for his new alliance with Russia.

   For his domestic audience, he’s shown to be the caring father of a nation, acknowledges the losses of soldiers, and shows the generosity of the state in taking care of the families of the lost soldiers. There’s the rally around the flag patriotic effect to maintain support within North Korea.

   At the same time he’s also shoring up his alliance with Russia, which trades both fuel and food to North Korea in exchange for munitions. North Korea is desperately short of fuel and food but has vast stockpiles of munitions. They’re a very artillery-heavy army, which is precisely the kind of support Russia needs right now.

   Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk triggered the defense pact between Russia and North Korea, and Kim Jong Un was able to get his army real, actual combat experience while reinforcing that alliance. He’s now a proven reliable partner for Putin.

   It is a mistake to discount the value of real combat experience. All the training in the world isn’t the the same as fighting a real war. An inexperienced army will initially take heavy losses but they will also learn rapidly from mistakes. Its a brutal Darwinian educational process. While North Korea’s army suffered heavy losses in their major engagement in Kursk, they have learned from their losses. I guarantee you the soldiers and officers who fought in Kursk are teaching other soldiers in North Korea what to do and what not to do. As a result, the entire army will perform better on the next engagement.

   This also makes North Korea a more formidable foe against South Korea, as now the North Korean military has recent, real combat experience. South Koreans only have theoretical experience from training exercises.

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