North Korea sent a mystery man to lead its troops fighting Ukraine

In a country that fetes its military elites like celebrities, Col. Gen. Kim Yong Bok was rarely seen or even mentioned in public. His role leading North Korea's special forces required him to keep a low profile to conceal his identity. But now he is a very public figure.

- Dasl Yoon

He is the top North Korean military official in Russia, where more than 11,000 North Korean soldiers have been deployed to aid Moscow's efforts to dislodge Ukrainian troops who have seized a chunk of Russian territory.

Kyiv and Seoul officials have confirmed his presence in Russia. In recent days, President Biden gave the green light for Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied, long-range weapons to strike inside Russia—with the new North Korean presence a motivating factor. Ukraine fired those missiles for the first time on Tuesday, hitting an ammunition storage facility in Russia's Bryansk region.

Formally the army's deputy chief of general staff, Col. Gen. Kim is believed to be tasked with integrating North Korean troops with the Russians, absorbing battlefield insights to bring back home and establishing the pipeline for future deployments.

The number of dispatched North Korean soldiers to Russia could ultimately reach as high as 100,000, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday. He didn't cite specific evidence for the claim.

Col. Gen. Kim isn't expected to see any combat himself. But the dispatch of one of North Korea's most important military officials signals North Korea's interest in assisting Russia deep into next year.

Until recently, his identity was relatively cloaked because the special-forces unit he commanded—believed to be the world's largest, at roughly 200,000 strong—would undertake secret missions in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula, said Jeon Kyung-joo, a research fellow at the South Korean government-funded Korea Institute for Defense Analyses. North Korea began spotlighting Col. Gen. Kim to show Russia that a trusted hand would be sent to lead the troop deployment, which includes special forces, she added.

“There was more reason to keep him hidden—until now,” Jeon said. “Behind the curtain, he has clearly proven himself to be reliable.”