Putin’s war widens significantly now that North Korea has put boots on the ground in Ukraine. This is the first time another foreign government has joined Russia’s attempt to conquer its former colony, and it means that two nations have now invaded Ukraine.
Reports are that Korean military advisors have been in Ukraine for months involved in the deployment of their missiles; some have died in bombing raids, and another 10,000 ground troops are rumored to be training in Russia’s Far East to fight in Ukraine.
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There is also talk that the war may further widen because NATO’s Britain and France are planning to put boots on the ground in Ukraine to help train its forces.
As both sides escalate, North Korea’s invasion of Ukraine also represents a third front in Asia as part of Putin’s worldwide war.
His ally, Iran, opened the second front in the Middle East by attacking Israel on Putin’s birthday, Oct. 7. And now, his other ally, North Korea, attacks Ukraine and re-opens old wounds and new fears in East Asia.
Taiwan and South Korea in blue, between arch-enemies China and Japan
South Korea and Japan are on high alert and re-militarizing their nations quickly because Taiwan’s conquest and China’s saber-rattling have been the focus. Putin has also stoked Taiwanese talking points to divert political, diplomatic, and military attention away from Russia and onto China.
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However, Beijing is not a conquering nation and is currently preoccupied with its flagging economy, trade problems, social unrest, and crushing debt load. It is in no condition nor mood to invade any nation-state.
Even so, without justification whatsoever, Beijing plays along. It increased anxiety by sharply increasing military maneuvers near Taiwan’s borders, forcing Taipei to scramble fighters almost daily. As usual, the Taiwanese and their new President ignored the stunt. (Notably, house prices on the island nation have steadily increased since the China-is-scary talking points, stoked by Russia and Trump supporters, swept through Congress and the American media.)
Fear-mongering regarding Taiwan is misplaced and intended to draw attention away from Russia’s vileness and President Xi Jinping’s incredible incompetence.
Xi has ruined an otherwise booming economy during his tenure by allowing unprecedented spending binges: Chinese individuals snapping up real estate, local governments building Taj Mahal infrastructure, and Beijing’s $1-trillion Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects plague China.
Xi’s BRI was an attempt to buy influence and capture trading markets by indulging leaders in impoverished countries who wanted to build airports, ports, roads, bridges, and housing they didn’t need and could never pay for. The result is that China carries trillions of dollars worth of debt, unemployment problems, and trade declines.
North Korea's entry into Ukraine makes matters worse in Asia by raising the possibility of another Korean War.
Now, North Korea is in the mix, and South Korea is its sworn enemy. Both escalate. The North’s “pygmy kingdom” is run by a dictator with a small nuclear arsenal and 26.5 million enslaved people.
The two are divided by a demilitarized zone, but each has been lobbing projectiles full of garbage or propaganda against the other this year. Tensions have risen, and last week, North Korea destroyed the road leading to the demilitarized zone, then announced more nuclear expansion and its decision to send troops to kill Ukrainians who South Korea supports. It also declared South Korea a mortal enemy.
North Korean troops in Pyongyang
North Korea supplies Russia, and South Korea supplies Ukraine with critical ammunition and armaments.
In 2023, South Korea dramatically stepped up to help Ukraine and the West. Its President, Yoon Suk Yeol, visited Kyiv for the first time to pledge support for Ukraine’s battle against Russia — two weeks before the 70th anniversary of the armistice that ended the brutal Korean War that killed millions and still separates the Korean people. This was significant on several levels.
Putin’s hero, Joseph Stalin, instigated the Korean War in 1950 by helping North Korea invade the South. And in 2022, Putin warned South Korea against getting involved in Ukraine but was ignored.
The difference between the two Koreas couldn’t be more stark.
South Korea has an economy the size of Canada’s, the 8th most giant army with 550,000 active personnel, and one of the world’s biggest military-industrial complexes.
By contrast, the North is impoverished and run by a maniac, while the South, referred to as the “Miracle on the Han River,” transformed itself from postwar poverty into one of the world’s most vibrant and wealthy nations.
The United Nations, United States, and others provided a “Marshall Plan” to help South Korea rebuild its infrastructure and reimagine its institutions, and Koreans did the rest.
South Korea has invested in its people and has the highest proportion of people with tertiary degrees worldwide.
That, plus foreign investment flows because of its storied national work ethic, has helped South Korea build world-class technological, engineering, electronic, automotive, manufacturing, financial, and entertainment industries.
Along the way, its 51.74 million people have also democratized their country, staunched corruption, and held in check the power of gigantic conglomerates known as chaebols.
Seoul has exported military wares to the United States and Poland for re-export to Ukraine ever since the 2022 invasion. It will provide even more assistance now that the North has joined Russia.
“Every time North Korea takes a step to support Russian aggression, South Korea takes a step in the direction of supporting Ukraine,” noted Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Merezhko. He hopes Seoul will provide combat vehicles and modern armored personnel carriers that would be useful on the battlefield.
Interestingly, the Ukrainian MP said that, given Pyongyang's dependence on Beijing, North Korea could never have supported Russia without China's permission.
If true, this further implicates China in helping Russia. NATO accused it of supplying tech and equipment to Russia’s war machine in June.
On the other hand, China may be concerned that many of the North Koreans being trained in Russia’s Far East may also replace Russian soldiers that guard its lengthy borders with China and Mongolia. The rest will go to the front line as part of its notorious “meat assaults.”
This is important to China because of its fear of Russia and/or its hidden interest in acquiring Manchuria, formerly part of China. (See my newsletter, China Plays Putin.)
South Korea Armed Forces Day
More sanctions must be imposed on North Korea because it essentially has declared war against Ukraine by illegally invading it with Russia.
The other implications in Asia are that South Korea will eventually join the QUAD, or Asia’s NATO-like alliance founded by the United States, Japan, India, and Australia to contain China.
It’s also a good bet that South Korea will become a nuclear power down the road to protect itself against a nationalistic China, Russia, and a nuclearized “Pygmy Kingdom” to its north. If it does so, Japan will do the same.
Ironically, South Korea was also, like Ukraine, a victim of Russian occupation. For 1,000 years, Koreans shared their peninsula with the Chinese until Japan declared war, annexed it, and occupied it until 1945.
That year, a deal was struck to divide Korea along its 38th parallel, with the Soviet Union as trustee of its North and the United States as its South. But in 1950, Soviet-backed North Korea invaded.
The United Nations sent troops from 22 countries to liberate the South. The war killed 1.2 million soldiers and civilians and destroyed cities without much territorial gain by the North. It ended in a truce in 1953, but both are still officially at war, and 28,500 American troops remain stationed in South Korea.
Interestingly, support for Ukraine inside South Korea was originally enhanced by weeks of effort by a South Korean soldier, Sgt Kim Jae-kyung.
He volunteered to fight in Ukraine’s International Legion after the 2022 invasion and returned home to campaign on behalf of its struggle. He conducted a one-man crusade in South Korea to expel Russia from Ukraine altogether.
In an interview, he explained that after South Korea was invaded in 1950 by the Soviets and the North Korean regime, 22 countries and the UN saved it from capture.
Now, he said, South Korea must help Ukraine against the same enemies because “we are lucky enough to now be the 10th most prosperous country in the world because of the foreign soldiers who shed their blood and sweat for our country.”
Reprinted from dianefrancis@substack.com – Diane Francis on America and the World.
The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.
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