North Korea, which reportedly recently undertook its second large-scale deployment of troops to Russia, is apparently refusing to receive and process the bodies of its soldiers who died on the battlefield in the Ukraine war.
Multiple sources familiar with the matter told the JoongAng Ilbo on Wednesday that “the Russian military has continuously requested the transfer of the bodies of North Korean soldiers killed in action, but this has not been accomplished due to North Korea’s refusal.”
This appears to be a measure taken in consideration of possible internal public unrest, with signs also detected in recent months that North Koreans stationed overseas are looking into alternative methods for corpse disposal that rapidly freeze and disintegrate bodily remnants.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) announced in January that approximately 300 North Korean soldiers who were dispatched have died.
North Korea’s refusal to take care of the deceased soldiers’ bodies could be evidence that leader Kim Jong-un is only focused on the remuneration he will receive from Russia for the troop deployments and has not sufficiently prepared measures for potential civil unrest due to the dispatch of troops and ensuing casualties.
The issue of handling the deceased soldiers has not yet surfaced, but it is pointed out that it has the potential to cause great turmoil within North Korea.
A North Korean soldier captured in Ukraine recently described in a media interview the incomplete body of a fellow soldier who had blown himself up on orders from his superiors before being captured. There have also been numerous reports that the faces of dead North Korean soldiers were mutilated to prevent identification.
The NIS has determined that North Korean authorities are distributing certificates of war to the families of deceased North Korean soldiers, and many analysts predict that if bodies in such terrible condition were handed over, the possibility of internal unrest or public discontent could be greater than expected.
In relation to this, a source said, “there is information that North Korean officials stationed overseas are investigating ice storage facilities in Europe that rapidly freeze and crush corpses.”
The purpose of such investigations cannot be confirmed, but the source explained that it may be to dispose of the corpses of North Korean soldiers on site.
As the armistice negotiations promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump are gaining speed, the North Korean military issue will inevitably be addressed, so it is possible that North Korean authorities are keeping their options open.
“Ice burial” uses a process called promession, in which liquid nitrogen is used to the body to make it brittle and then vibrated to disintegrate the frozen matter. It is permitted in some countries, and South Korea has attempted to legislate the process, which is considered environmentally friendly.
This could be interpreted as effectively destroying any domestic and international evidence of North Korean soldiers involvement in the war, where in some cases it is suggested that the soldiers didn’t even know they were being dispatched, and depriving them of even the minimum right of having their remains returned to their families.
In relation to this, it is said that situations were observed in which North Korean authorities gifted television sets and groceries to the families of deployed soldiers. This is a kind of stopgap measure, and it also means that the authorities are aware of internal public opinion regarding the dispatch of troops.
“The dispatched soldiers’ salary was set at a level far below the $2,000 that mercenaries hired by the Russian military usually receive,” another source said. “Because of this, I understand that the authorities are coming up with a plan to not pay individual soldiers at all or to give them a small amount of North Korean money.”
A North Korean prisoner of war also said in a recent media interview that “there was no promise regarding the dispatched soldiers’ salary.”
Kim Jong-un’s decision to send a second deployment of troops is intended to receive a bigger quid pro quo from Russia, but some point out that the very existence of North Korean troops to be repatriated after the war could be a “double-edged sword.”
Since neither North Korea nor Russia currently recognizes their involvement, those who were sent to the front lines as “ghost soldiers” could survive and return to North Korea, which could become a threat to the regime itself.
“The large-scale troop dispatch that was chosen to solidify leadership and produce differentiated results from the previous generation could paradoxically come back as a boomerang that brings about regime instability and confusion,” said a researcher at a South Korean state-run research institute who wished to remain anonymous. “Even if North Korea dispatches additional troops in the future, it will be self-destructive for Kim Jong-un.”
BY CHUNG YEONG-GYO [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]
