Intelligence services in Kyiv say they have intercepted phone calls suggesting disarray as Russia attempts to work alongside North Korean soldiers as part of its ongoing campaign in Ukraine. The news comes just after the Secretary General of Nato, Mark Rutte confirmed that North Korean troops had been deployed in the Kursk region of Russia near Ukraine.

In a USA Today report, it was revealed that Ukraine's Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) had shown some of these calls as having originated with Russian troops stationed in the Kursk region. According to the report, Moscow has deployed one translator and three Russian soldiers to work alongside every 30 North Korean troops.

However, according to information leaked on the intercepted calls, Russian soldiers were doubting the effectiveness of the integration, blaming a limited number of effective commanders, weapons, and ammunition. In one intercepted call, recorded in Kursk, a Russian soldier said of his commander, "I want to kill him today, yes, after the Koreans."

No unit names or precise locations of the Russian and Korean troops have yet been revealed, presumably to protect Ukraine’s intelligence gathering capabilities.

Another soldier recorded at a different time was said to have complained about a shortage of translators. The Russian soldier in question was quoted by USA Today as saying, "We all work like translators now." A third soldier picked up by the DIA swore in the process of calling North Korean troops Chinese; a significant insult in Asia.

The lack of cohesion between the Russian and North Korean forces comes as Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. It is believed Zelenskyy is aiming to strengthen diplomatic ties with Seoul while sharing intelligence on what Zelenskyy claims is a deployment of approximately 12,000 North Korean troops to Russian military bases.

It is a development Oliver Jia, researcher on Japan - DPRK relations and contributor to The Spectator, Japan Times and NK News sees as “significant from a historical perspective” albeit ultimately of no real importance.

Speaking to bno IntelliNews, he said “since the Korean War, North Koreans have participated in Vietnam, the Middle East, and Africa in various roles as military advisors to pilots working alongside their communist counterparts.”

“Being sent to the frontlines of Russia would be their largest direct role yet if the reports are to be believed. However, I don't think this will radically alter the course of the war.”

Instead, the researcher pinpointed an aspect often ignored regarding the deployment of troops by Pyongyang. “North Korea needs economic support as it bore the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, so sending 10,000 or so North Korean troops to aid a benefactor is a small sacrifice for Kim Jong Un” Jia said, before adding “what this development should do is reaffirm to the West that continued support of Ukraine is necessary as Russia is undoubtedly trying to get all the help it can get for its own war effort amid a prolonged stalemate, although ultimately, I don't think North Koreans assisting Russia will be the grand turnaround that would allow Putin to win the war.”

Meanwhile, North Korea's Foreign Minister arrived in eastern Russia earlier in the week and is expected to carry on to Moscow in what will be her second visit in six weeks. The Kremlin has stated though, that President Vladimir Putin does not plan to meet her.

When news broke of the North Korean deployment, the Associated Press pointed to the South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) as saying it was Russian naval vessels that initially transported 1,500 North Korean special forces to Vladivostok between October 8 and October 13, with more expected to follow. South Korean media, citing NIS sources, reported that North Korea may send around 12,000 troops in all organised into four brigades.

Experts at the time cited by local South Korean media were clearly divided on the significance of the North Korean troop deployment for Russia, highlighting Pyongyang’s outdated military equipment and lack of combat experience.

Analysts in Seoul meanwhile went on to speculate North Korea may have secured promises of improved Russian weapons technology in return; itself seen by many in northeast Asia as potentially increasing the threat level to US, Japanese and South Korean interests down the line. Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at the prestigious Ewha Womans University in Seoul though, was quoted by the AP as saying “diplomatically, Pyongyang would be sacrificing its relations with European countries for the foreseeable future,” before adding that the “quid pro quo in terms of Russian military technology” could in no uncertain terms impact South Korean security.

Others in Asia view the deployment as North Korea sending their elite troops to gain combat experience in preparation for aggression against the South, or even Japan. It is a possibility being kept alive and well on the northeast Asian backburner by Pyongyang’s October 31 launch of a banned intercontinental ballistic missile which eventually splashed down in the Sea of Japan between the two countries. The missile was reported as flying for almost 90 minutes by sources in Japan, reaching an altitude of 7,000km.

Further to the south in Taiwan, a nation seemingly unaffected by the North Korean troop move to Russia, but wary that any future North Korean action in Ukraine or even against South Korea or Japan could serve as a distraction allowing China to invade the island while the international gaze was further to the north on the Korean Peninsula, worries also exist that Pyongyang, Beijing and Moscow could be playing the long-game.

Asked whether the deployment will, eventually, in some way benefit China in this regard by creating a distraction for Beijing to move militarily against Taiwan, Jia, a long-time American resident of neighbouring Japan, didn't think so. “This to me seems to be a pragmatic move between Russia and North Korea as both countries have few allies on the world stage” he said.

Time will tell.