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A North Korean who escaped the country described his days in the Korean People’s Army.
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He told BI that he trained men from the Storm Corps, the elite unit believed to be fighting Ukraine.
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He described tough training conditions, dated equipment, and little ammo.
Constant propaganda as well as limited access to ammunition — or even toilet paper — were the stark realities of being in North Korea’s army, a former soldier told Business Insider. Hyunseung Lee, who was born in North Korea in 1985, defected with his family in 2014. Today he lives and works as a consultant for the Global Peace Foundation in Washington, DC. During his years in the military, Lee says he trained soldiers from the 11th Corps — or Storm Corps — the elite unit now believed to be fighting alongside Russia in its war against Ukraine. In an open letter to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in November, Lee described those soldiers as victims of a “ruthless deal” between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. He urged Zelenskyy to target them with psychological tactics. Lee spoke to Business Insider for an in-depth interview about how North Korea really works.
Shared underwear and no ammo
Lee’s firsthand knowledge of the North Korean military was developed during the rule of Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un’s father, who died in 2011. Nonetheless, his insight gives a rare snapshot of the hermit kingdom, as well as its military operations. Lee told BI that he joined the North Korean military in April 2002. After training, he said his first unit was the 4th Corps Reconnaissance Artillery Battalion, a special force devoted mainly to infiltrating enemy bases and transmitting back their coordinates for artillery attacks. It was a grueling life — one in which there were no proper shower facilities, food was poor, and trainees had to improvise their own toilet paper, he said.
“The first day, I used my sock to wipe,” Lee said, adding that later it was leaflets, books, or leaves. Underwear was also communal, he added. “We washed them together and then the senior officers distribute underwear randomly.”
Soldiers would then supplement their income with private business, which was against the law, he added. “Basically, no one could make a living with the North Korean payroll system.”
Having no experience of the outside world, Lee said he believed that the North Korean army could take on the US and win. Yet he said the equipment they were using was “from World War II.” Training was also massively restricted due to fears of breaking equipment that could not be replaced, he told BI. When it came to weapons training — on a North Korean version of the AK-47 — there was very little shooting because bullets were “strictly controlled,” Lee said. “So the first year of my military service, I was only able to shoot three bullets,” he said.
Storm Corps: ‘Zero relationship with modern warfare’
Lee said he spent six months training soldiers from the Storm Corps, after being transferred to a special tactics unit that taught techniques in shooting, knife throwing, and martial arts. Drawn from taller and more well-built soldiers, Lee said the corps is an elite unit trained in operations on foreign soil — namely airborne missions, sniping, and light infantry work. In October, reports emerged that North Korea was using the Storm Corps for the forces it was sending to Russia. During Lee’s time with the corps, they at least had more bullets to work with, he said. But “the regime cannot provide fuel and an airplane,” which meant the airborne troops had to practice by jumping off a model, he said.
While North Korea and Russia have long shared similar tactics and equipment, when it comes to advanced tactics it’s likely another story, Lee said. “I would say their training has zero relationship with modern warfare,” he said of the Storm Corps. Last year, a Ukrainian official told Business Insider that the Storm Corps was likely learning deadly new drone techniques on the battlefield. North Korea experts have also previously told BI that the soldiers — despite their proud status back in North Korea — would likely be at the bottom of the pecking order in Russia. It’s an assessment Lee shares. He said there would also be communication problems, with Russian soldiers taking advantage of the North Korean troops. Ukraine has already claimed that language barriers have caused deadly friendly fire incidents. Asked if the Storm Corps will survive fighting alongside Russia against Ukraine, Lee said: “I honestly don’t know.” But he said they’ll want to get back home as soon as possible. “They want to go back, and they want to be alive.”