North Korea offers Russia ‘100,000 volunteers’ to fight Ukraine, says state TV

North Korea is ready to send 100,000 soldiers to its ally Russia as military assistance for boosting its invasion of Ukraine, Russian military expert Igor Korotchenko said on state TV.

“There are reports that 100,000 North Korean volunteers are prepared to come and take part in the conflict and North Korean builders are ready to work alongside ours [to repair war damage],” the Russian defence expert said in a live panel discussion on Russian Channel One, reported the New York Post.

Calling the North Korean troops “resilient, undemanding and motivated”, the Russian journalist said that the Kremlin “shouldn’t be shy in accepting the hand extended to us by Kim Jong-un”.

“If North Korean volunteers with their artillery systems, wealth of experience with counter-battery warfare and large calibre multi-launch rocket systems, made in North Korea want to participate in the conflict, well let’s give the green light to their volunteer impulse,” Mr Korotchenko said.

He said that if “North Korea expresses a desire to meet its international duty to fight against Ukrainian fascism, we should let them” and added that both nations hold the sovereign right to sign the relevant agreements.

It is not immediately clear how North Korea has offered military assistance to Russia as its war on Ukraine has dragged on for more than five months.

Ranked as the world’s fourth largest, the North Korean military force has nearly 1.3 million active personnel, the New York-based Council for Foreign Relations has said. Additionally, 600,000 serve as reserve soldiers in the army.

However, a South Korean report stated that the North is already preparing to dispatch its workers to the pro-Russian Donbas region in eastern Ukraine to help rebuild the region.

Pyongyang is planning to send these workers at an appropriate time as they continue to monitor the situation on the ground, a North Korean source said in the report.

Military assistance for Russia from North Korea could prove to be helpful in its invasion of Ukraine which has prolonged for months against Moscow’s expectations to capture Kyiv in a shorter duration. It has resulted in loss of morale, troops and resources for Russia, experts have pointed out.

The head of MI6 Richard Moore had said that Vladimir Putin has suffered an “epic fail” in Ukraine and his army is “running out of steam”.

Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), said the war was “obviously not over” but the Russian invaders may have to “pause” in the coming weeks.

“I think he has suffered a strategic failure in Ukraine. It is obviously not over,” Mr Moore said last month.