North Korean Troops in Russia: Benefits, but also Risks for Moscow and Pyongyang - It has been widely reported that thousands of North Korean troops, the exact number is unclear, are in Russia and that some 8,000 are now in Kursk where the U.S. government expects them to soon join Russian troops in the combat effort to expel Ukrainian forces from the portion of that Russian province still under Ukrainian occupation.

Moscow brought North Korean troops onto Russian territory and even sent them to the battlefield because Putin anticipated benefits from doing so. Although the North Korean deployment is tiny compared to the number of Russian troops on the front lines, their presence might relieve the need for Moscow to redeploy its troops from inside Ukraine to Kursk. In addition, while the Kremlin may worry about the sensitivity of the Russian public to Russian casualties, North Korean casualties are not something that ordinary Russians will worry about.

Finally, bringing in North Korean troops in response to Ukraine’s surprise seizure of Russian territory in Kursk may be intended to dishearten Ukrainians, especially........

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