Members of North Korea's special operations force are shown demonstrating martial arts in this photo released by North Korea's state news agency on Oct. 4. Yonhap Kim Jong-un strives to profit from war in Ukraine By Kang Hyun-kyung North Korean defectors in South Korea, who closely follow reports of the North's soldiers joining Russian forces in Ukraine, have raised doubts about their combat readiness.
In media reports, some of the dispatched North Koreans are portrayed as elite soldiers affiliated with the 11th Army Corps, commonly referred to as the "Storm Corps." This unit is comparable to South Korea's special forces, known as the "Black Berets" due to their distinctive headgear. Kim Young-hee, a North Korean escapee who earned her doctoral degree in North Korean Studies in the South, said the soldiers featured in news articles or on television do not resemble those from the Storm Corps.
"I wonder if they are really special forces,” she said, noting that the soldiers appeared pale and relatively short, which she believes does not align with the image of elite operatives. "They were quite different from the Storm Corps members that I know. The special forces are physically fit and athletic, as they are well-fed and receive specialized training.
However, the soldiers I saw on TV looked malnourished, resembling ordinary soldiers I encountered in rural areas of North Korea." Kim is not the only North Korean defector expressing skepticism about the North Korean troops in Rus.
