Name: North Korea: Learning by doing in Ukraine war | DW News
Uploaded: 2026-03-31T17:00:18.000Z
Duration: 9 min
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

This is North Korea's latest military flex: row upon row of shiny new upgraded rocket launchers on display, dozens of them in fact, and

Weapons North Korea's leader tells the crowd could be used for a special attack.

Now, we're used to these kinds of military displays from North Korea, but

has the threat posed by this reclusive state got even bigger because of what it's learnt and what it's getting from fighting in Russia's invasion of Ukraine?

This is extremely dangerous that they now get the knowledge of modern hybrid war.

They know how to defend missiles, they know how to defend drones, different drones, optical, different kinds of drones, from FPV to long-distance drones.

What they will do with this knowledge, in any way, minimum they will bring this knowledge, this experience, home to North Korea.

That's Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky saying out loud what many analysts are already thinking about what North Korea is gaining from fighting with Russia against Ukraine.

North Korea has the potential to become more capable in its threat to international security, certainly.

And a good part of that has come about because of experiences gained in Ukraine.

We're going to show you just how Kim Jong-un has used the war in Europe to modernize his military, power a new propaganda push at home and abroad, and

So to understand all this, we need to look back at how North Korea cozied up to Russia and joined its war in Ukraine.

And that starts with the relationship with these two men: Russia's President Vladimir Putin and the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Some 14,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to support Moscow's war effort, mostly to Russia's Kursk region.

This propaganda video from state TV suggests they've taken on multiple roles and have even been embedded with Russian units.

Along with fighters, North Korea has sent ammunition to Russia, a lot of it.

In fact, they have been crucial to Russia's war effort.

These are said to be North Korean-made artillery inside Russia.

This footage, released in December 2024, was verified by the Reuters news agency.

But on the front lines, North Korean soldiers are paying a heavy price.

In fact, analysts believe around 6,000 North Korean troops have been killed or wounded fighting against Ukraine.

Look at this unverified footage from Ukraine's military appearing to show North Korean fighters being hunted down by Ukrainian drones.

So with the bodies piling up and North Korean weapons and supplies heading Russia's way, just what is in it for North Korea?

This is the first time they're in a modern battlefield with electronic warfare, unique weapons, fighting a determined enemy.

This is bringing back a lot of knowledge to North Korea, which will likely be disseminated throughout the armed forces gradually over the next five years or so.

It makes them more capable of conducting combat operations.

That was Joseph Bermudez, a seasoned North Korean watcher and military analyst, and

he's been studying the reclusive state for years.

They're certainly getting technology, which allows them to make their existing weapon systems better and more accurate.

We see, for example, the Pantsir air defense system.

We see some naval anti-missile systems, gun systems being purchased or delivered to North Korea.

Some of their technology in certain areas, like submarines, is being advanced, certainly electronic warfare, UAVs, for example, a great deal of experience in UAVs.

And North Korea's had a UAV program for many years.

Now it's bringing in combat experience, maybe jumping frequencies for receivers and transmitters, maybe switching from GLONASS to GPS and back and forth, maybe inertial guidance systems.

This is valuable information for North Korea.

And then there's this: fears of a nuclear quid pro quo between Moscow and Pyongyang, detailed in expert evidence given to politicians in the UK Parliament.

It talks of submarine expertise now being leached by Russia to states like North Korea in exchange for key capabilities.

It highlights how previous nuclear submarine operating knowledge was something you never shared but kept between a strict group, describing the intel as the crown jewels of military knowledge.

Crown jewels that may already be in reach.

In December, North Korea released these images of what it claims was its first nuclear-powered sub, the first real glimpse into a development program that Kim has prioritized since at least 2021, and

a sign, perhaps, of its fast-improving know-how and technology.

And Pyongyang says it plans to arm the submarine with nuclear weapons.

But it's impossible to verify just how much intel and technical knowledge was handed over by Moscow to Pyongyang for this project.

We hear rumors or bits of information, often contradictory, concerning the subject of Russia providing nuclear technology for submarines to North Korea.

You just can't produce ICBMs and nuclear weapons without smart, dedicated people.

North Korea's involvement in the Ukraine war has also become a new powerful propaganda tool for Kim.

After initially denying North Korean troops were even fighting alongside Russia, he's recently changed tack, not only acknowledging casualties but glorifying those killed as martyrs.

This was in the summer when Kim paid a rare public tribute to those who've lost their lives in Russia's war.

He's now even built a brand new housing complex for families of troops killed in battle.

Now, some analysts say this is all about Kim trying to create a shared narrative with Russia about this being some sacred fight against the West, while others say this is all about quelling dissent over the mounting number of deaths.

This is his way of heading off some of that potential political unrest.

And this is something where his father and grandfather reacted instead of being proactive about an issue.

And this shows that Kim is a little more astute in this area, and he is concerned.

He wouldn't do this if he wasn't concerned.

So with a leader seemingly without limits in charge of a military with growing know-how and growing technology helped by Russia, should North Korea now be treated as a greater threat to global security?

They're not more dangerous than they were, they are, and they will be dangerous.

What is changing about the danger is the capability of that danger and the efficiency of that danger.

Which opens new questions about Kim's goals and ambitions here, and just what he plans to do next.