The North Korean troops in Russia cannot be underestimated, former military personnel told the BBC

What Hanul remembers most about his time in the North Korean army is the crippling constant hunger. In his first month of service, he lost 10 kg on a diet of cracked corn and cabbage mold.

After three months of training, he says, almost his entire battalion was severely malnourished and had to be sent to a rehabilitation center to gain weight.

When they were later sent to guard the border with South Korea, rice replaced corn. But by the time he reached their bowl, much had been drained by the rear units, and the rest had been sandblasted.

Hanul says his squad was one of the most well-fed, a tactic to stop them crossing into South Korea. But it was not possible to prevent Khanul.

In 2012, he made a deadly dash across the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the strip of land that separates North from South.

His experience and that of other military defectors helps shed light on the plight of thousands of North Korean troops sent to the front lines in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Pyongyang has about 11,000 troops are reported to have been sent to help Russian troops retake part of the Kursk region captured by Ukraine during a surprise summer offensive.

Earlier this week Seoul, Washington and Kyiv said soldiers entered the battle “in significant numbers” and reported their first casualties, with South Korean officials estimating that more than 100 had already been killed and more wounded. This number has not been confirmed.

However, defectors and other military experts told the BBC that these troops should not be underestimated.

According to South Korean intelligence, most of them belong to the elite Assault Corps unit and have “high morale” but “lack understanding of modern warfare”.

Only taller, more athletic men are selected for the Storm Corps, says defector Lee Hyun-seung, who trained in North Korea’s special forces in the early 2000s before defecting in 2014.

He taught them martial arts, how to throw knives and make weapons out of cutlery and other kitchen utensils.

But even though the Storm Corps’ training is more advanced than that of regular North Korean units, the soldiers are still undernourished and even malnourished.

According to Khanul, Internet videos, reportedly of the troops in Russia, show more young, “weak” soldiers. They are in stark contrast to Pyongyang’s propaganda videos, which show men breaking free from iron chains and breaking blocks of ice with their bare hands.

Khanul says that in his entire time in the army, he fired only three bullets in one live-fire training session.

The closest he came to combat was when a hungry farmer came upon the demzone in search of vegetables. Hanul says he ignored instructions to “shoot all intruders” and let the man off with a warning.

It’s hard to know how much has changed in the decade since Hanul’s defection, given the dearth of information from North Korea. The country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, appears to have channeled much of his limited resources into missiles and nuclear weapons rather than his standing army.

But according to another soldier, Ryu Songhyun, who escaped in 2019, the first three years in the military are “incredibly difficult” even for special forces. The 28-year-old, who served as a driver in the Air Force for seven years, says conditions worsened during his service and rice gradually disappeared from his meals.

“Soldiers are sent into the mountains for a few days with a small amount of rice, and they say it’s part of their survival training.”

Given that these troops were trained to fight in the mountainous Korean peninsula, the defectors doubt how well they will adapt to fighting on the plains and in the trenches near Kursk.

Importantly, the Assault Corps is not a front-line unit. “Their mission is to infiltrate enemy lines and create chaos deep in enemy territory,” Ryu says.

But, he adds, Kim Jong Un has no alternative to sending in special forces, as regular soldiers spend most of their time farming, building or chopping wood.

“Kim Jong-un should have sent people who could demonstrate at least some level of combat capability so as not to damage North Korea’s reputation in Russia.”

The language barrier seems to have created an additional obstacle. Ukraine’s military intelligence unit said on Sunday that communications problems led to North Korean soldiers accidentally firing on a Russian battalion, killing eight.

With such assessments, it would be easy to dismiss the troops as “cannon fodder” and a sign of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s desperation. But that would be a mistake, defectors say. Their loyalty to the regime and fighting spirit will be of great importance.

“Most of the soldiers in the assault corps come from working-class families or farmers who are very obedient to the party and will follow orders without question,” says Khanul, whose father and cousin served in the Special Forces.

Intensive ideological brainwashing sessions held every morning further ensure their mental readiness, Lee adds. He believes that the North Korean troops will “get used to the battlefield, learn to fight the enemy and find ways to survive.”

Although soldiers won’t have a choice about whether to deploy, Ryu believes many will want to go. Ambitious people will see this as an opportunity for career growth, he says.

Given how difficult it is to serve in North Korea, some will relish the opportunity to experience life abroad for the first time.

“I think they will be more willing to fight than the Russian troops,” he adds, admitting that in their situation he would also like to be sent.

The former commander of the South Korean special forces, Chun In-Bum, agrees with the defectors’ assessment. “Just because they lack food and training doesn’t mean they’re incapable. They acclimatize quickly. We should not underestimate them.”

While 11,000 troops are unlikely to turn the tide of such a grueling war — Russia is estimated to be suffering more than a thousand casualties a day — experts and officials believe it could only be the first tranche, with Pyongyang potentially sending up to 60,000 or even 100,000 if they are turned.

Mr Chun believes these numbers could prove effective.

In addition, Kim Jong-un will be able to sustain heavy losses without affecting the stability of his regime, former military officials say.

“Those who have been sent will be people without influence and connections – to put it bluntly, those who can be sacrificed without problems,” says Khanul.

He recalls being shocked to learn that there were no children of high-ranking parents in his front line: “That’s when I realized we were expendable.”

He doesn’t expect much resistance from the families of the dead, whose sons, he says, will be honored as heroes.

“There are countless parents who have lost a child after being sent to the army,” he adds, recalling his cousin who died. His aunt received a certificate praising her son for his heroic contribution.

The loyalty of soldiers and their families may dampen the hopes of Ukrainians and South Koreans that many will simply desert if they enter combat. Kyiv and Seoul have discussed conducting psychological operations on the front lines to force people to surrender.

But they don’t seem to have access to cell phones. According to Ukrainian intelligence, even the phones of the Russian military are taken away before they face the North Korean troops.

Therefore, possible infiltration strategies include broadcasting messages over loudspeakers or using drones to drop leaflets.

Both Ryu and Hanul decided to flee after reading anti-regime propaganda sent across the border from South Korea. But they doubt it will work so far from home.

They say the desire and courage to run over takes a long time.

In addition, Hanul suspects that the officers will be ordered to shoot anyone who tries to escape. He remembers his comrades opening fire as he made a daring sprint across the DMZ.

“Twelve bullets flew just a meter above my head,” he says.

Even capturing North Korean troops may prove to be a difficult task for Ukraine.

In the North, being a prisoner is considered extremely shameful and worse than death. Instead, soldiers are taught to end their lives by shooting themselves or detonating a grenade.

Ryu remembers a famous war song called Save the Last Bullet. “They tell you to save two bullets, one to shoot the enemy and one to shoot yourself.”

Still, Lee’s former SWAT trainer is determined to help. He offered to go to the front line to talk directly to the soldiers.

“It is unlikely that they will escape in large numbers, but we must try. Hearing familiar voices like mine and others from North Korea can affect their psychology,” he says.

Hanul just hopes they will return home to North Korea. He knows that among the soldiers sent to help Russia, there is a chance that one of his relatives.

“I just hope they make it through and get back safely.”

Additional reporting by Jake Kwon and Hosu Lee