Title
North Korea’s Involvement in the Russia-Ukraine War
Abstract
This panel of UW Madison specialists discussed how Russia’s move to engage North Koreans for help is a sign of its growing weakness. Instead of the decisive victory they had envisioned in Ukraine, they have instead been forced into a prolonged state of war that has depleted their military and economic reserves. Russia is especially in need of more manpower which North Korea is willing and able to supply in return for financial and military assistance. A worst-case scenario would be the transfer of nuclear and ballistic missile technology from Russia to North, but there are many reasons to hope that this might not happen and that transfer to North Korea might be limited to financial payments and older generation conventional weapons.
The panel agreed that neither party has the upper hand in terms of leverage, having entered this partnership from positions of necessity. Although it remains to be seen how things might develop, currently North Korean involvement in the conflict does not appear sufficient to shift the outcome of the war in Ukraine, and Russian aid to North Korea appears to be limited.
Biography
Panel speakers:
- David Fields, CEAS Associate Director and historian of U.S.-Korea relations
- John Hall, Professor of Military History
- Yoshiko Herrera, Professor of Political Science specializing in Russian politics
Moderator:
- Kevin Kelly, Law professor and retired Navy Reserve officer specializing in military operational law