[Full Text] KBS Exclusive Interview with Zelenskyy – I

Photo : KBS

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied a string of reports that North Korean troops have already engaged in battle as part of Russia’s war with Ukraine, that they have already seen fatalities, and that some have even advanced into Ukrainian territory.

Zelenskyy spoke to KBS in an exclusive interview on Wednesday in the Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod.

Q: Mr. President, thank you for agreeing to an interview at this crucial juncture. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has continued for two years and eight months. The situation is changing rapidly as North Korea recently sent troops. Our first question concerns these North Korean troops. Where exactly are they at the moment?

Zelenskyy: As you say, the war has continued for more than two years. In fact, come November, we’ll mark one-thousand days since the start of the war. It is no coincidence that Russia is moving to further expand the conflict amid the protracted war. It’s very clear. Russia is taking it to the next level by bringing in North Korean soldiers and officers. In fact, they are flaunting it. Russia has received some three-point-five million artillery shells from North Korea, with which it has killed our people. North Korea has also supplied missiles. Now they’re talking about (North Korean) troops who will fight against us. About three-thousand North Korean soldiers are in training facilities, and we assess that the total will soon reach 12-thousand. They include officers and soldiers. We are also aware that talks are in progress (between North Korea and Russia) concerning the deployment of army engineers. In addition, North Korea will also send a considerable number of civilians to work in specific munitions factories in the Russian Federation.

With this deployment of North Korean troops, Putin is currently testing the response of South Korea and the NATO member nations. After gauging their response, he will determine whether to expand the deployment.

These days Putin is much like a mine-clearance unit on a minefield. As I recently said during a news briefing, he’s acting like a demining unit in a minefield, to verify what will happen if he uses the troops. If nothing happens — and I believe what we are seeing now is a total lack of response, zero — we will see an increase in the number of North Korean troops sent to our soil.

■ Zelenskyy denies Ukrainian forces are engaging with North Korean troops in battle, but says he expects such engagement “within days.”

Q: Are North Korean troops in the Kursk region?

A: They are already in the Kursk region.

Q: Have North Korean troops engaged in battle with Ukrainian forces?

A: No, not yet. I believe this will occur not within months, but within days.

Q: So there have been no North Korean casualties as of yet?

A: So far, North Korean troops have not engaged in battle. They are preparing to be deployed for battle.

Q: So you’re saying they have not yet advanced across the border into Ukrainian territory, into areas other than the Kursk region?

A: They will be deployed in Kursk and also on Ukrainian soil. There is no doubt about that.

Q: What do you think is the probability of additional deployments?

A: As I said earlier, they (Russians) will use these (North Korean) troops. And many will die. And they (Russians) will use all means to sacrifice as many North Korean troops as possible. In other words, they (Russians) will station North Korean troops on the front lines, and will sacrifice them more than Russian troops.
 
That’s why we will see more of these victims. It’s very clear that Putin is afraid of issuing a national conscription order. Doing so would adversely impact his approval rating because most Russians do not support conscription. 

Even if they criticize Ukraine while sitting on their sofas, they do not want to go to the battlefield themselves. Now North Korea is providing Putin with a solution (to avoid conscription). And it is a trade that greatly benefits the North Korean leader. North Korean troops do not have combat experience. Especially as they come from a region that has been free of combat recently, they lack experience in modern warfare, which is rather thankful. As they have never experienced war, they have never received combat training. This means North Korean troops will experience actual combat. They will learn how to wage a ground war and how to use artillery in battle. They will experience numerous battle tactics firsthand, making use of drones, first-person views and missiles. This is also important for the North Korean leader. Like Putin, the North Korean leader will not value human lives. However, actual combat experience will provide an important training opportunity for his military.

Q. There is a view that the North Korean troops may not bring significant changes to the battlefield and that their impact is being exaggerated as a means of psychological warfare. 

A. I am certain that however many North Korean troops there are, whether it’s three-thousand or ten-thousand, it will put no psychological pressure on Ukraine. This isn’t enough to put psychological pressure on Ukraine. But it is an important psychological factor for Putin. His intention is to show that he is not alone in this war, that he has an ally. 

Interview conducted by Kim Kyung-jin, KBS 
English translations by KBS World English News Service