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Trading young lives for regime security

Published: 29 Oct. 2024, 20:04

Yoo Jee-hye
The author is the head of the diplomatic and security news department at the JoongAng Ilbo.

Naming individuals as a group is convenient but dangerous because in that moment, their humanity can be buried or erased. This is the case with the North Korean troops dispatched to Russia in its war against Ukraine. It is alarming to hear that they were named “Special Operations Forces” and “Storm Troopers.” Given the actual role of the North Korean deployment and what Russia will offer in return, the security environment on the Korean Peninsula has never been more tense.

But it is the individuals behind the current development that should be of equal concern.

“It has been two months since 17-year-old Min-jun, who just joined the 11th Brigade of the Special Operations Forces, arrived in Russia. When he first traveled from Chongjin, North Korea, to Vladivostok on a Russian landing ship, he didn’t understand what was going on. As usual, he was not offered any explanations. As a member of the People’s Army that exists to serve Dear Respected Comrade Kim Jong-un, he, of course, cannot ask any questions. Even when he was issued a Russian military uniform and trained for weeks, Min-jun didn’t know what he was preparing for — even until the moment he traveled to the southwestern city of Kursk.

“Despite his training, it was his first experience on a real battlefield, where bullets were flying and missiles were raining down. It was the first time for him to see drones that hovered anytime over his head. Soldiers’ skins were torn apart, blood was splattered and limbs were cut off day after day. More soldiers continued to arrive from home, but with so many dead and wounded, it was hard to keep track of the numbers.

“A few months ago, when he heard a rumor that a soldier in the frontline unit had been blinded by an explosion during a mine-laying operation in the demilitarized zone on the inter-Korean border, Min-jun had felt sorry for him. But now, he thinks that maybe it’s better to get wounded at home if he can’t avoid it. He had no chance to send a letter to his mother before his departure. Would they send him back home if something happens to him? Min-jun still cannot ask the question for fear of menacing answers.”

The above is a fictionalized version of a North Korean soldier’s situation a month after his deployment in the battlefield — based on South Korean and U.S. intelligence assessments, foreign news reports, defector testimonies and expert analysis. It may be a bit of a stretch, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility.

The fictional North Korean soldier is named Min-jun for a reason. Intelligence communities believe that most of the North Korean soldiers in Russia are newly drafted men in their late teens and early 20s. As the draft age in the North is 17, there may be a significant number of minors born between 2005 and 2007.

The most common name given to baby boys born in South Korea between 2005 and 2007 is Min-jun. If that fictional North Korean soldier had been born in the South, he would be preparing for college admission, not war. He would be arguing with his mom over playing video games, not waking up in the morning with a sinking feeling that he might never see his mother’s face again.

This is why the North Korean deployment should be viewed as a massive human rights violation. In essence, dictator Kim Jong-un has forced young boys and men into the deadly battlefields for the sake of his regime’s security.

Whether the price is money or military technology, Kim has one goal. It is to strengthen the regime and achieve the fourth-generation power succession of the “Paektu bloodline.” The National Intelligence Service estimates that about 10,000 troops will be deployed this year. But even if all of them are killed or injured, Kim can send tens of thousands more without blinking an eye.

In 2014, the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry (COI) concluded that the regime in Pyongyang has clearly failed to fulfill its responsibility to protect its people, calling its human rights violation “a crime against humanity.” After a decade, Kim is actively sending his own people to their deaths.

There is also a high possibility that the victimized North Korean troops will become perpetrators of crimes on the battlefields of Ukraine.

In his keynote speech at the JoongAng Forum on Oct. 23, Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul warned the North that it may face responsibility under the international criminal law, depending on the specific acts committed by the deployed North Korean troops. His message is noteworthy. If the soldiers join in the killings of civilians, it opens the door to hold Kim — the final decision-maker — accountable for committing the crime against humanity.

The legal process to prove this may be long and hard, but the mere consideration of it can pressure Kim. Most importantly, there is no statute of limitations for crimes against humanity under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Kim must not forget that.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.