Three-star General Kim Jong-bok he was not publicly known until Pyongyang appointed him as the representative for its approximately 11,000 troops in Russia. In a country that celebrates its military elite like celebrities, Colonel Kim Jong-bok was rarely seen—or even mentioned—in public. His role as head of North Korea’s special forces required him to keep a low profile to hide his identity. He is now a very public figure.
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 war effort to remove Ukrainian troops who have seized part of Russian territory.
Officials in Kiev and Seoul confirmed his presence in Russia. In the last days, Mr President Biden gave the green light to Ukraine to strike inside Russia with US-supplied long-range weapons – following North Korea’s strong new presence. Ukraine fired these missiles for the first time on Tuesday, hitting an ammunition storage facility in Russia’s Bryansk region.
Officially, the army’s deputy chief of staff, Colonel General Kim, is believed to be tasked with integrating North Korean troops into Russian forces, absorbing battlefield knowledge and creating the pipeline for future deployments.
The number of North Korean soldiers sent to Russia could eventually reach 100,000, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday. He did not provide specific evidence for the said claim. Colonel Kim is not expected to attend any combat. But sending one of North Korea’s top military officials shows its interest in helping Russia in the long term.
Until recently, his identity was relatively obscured because the special forces unit he commanded—believed to be the largest in the world, numbering some 200,000— would undertake secret missions in case of war on the Korean Peninsula, said Yeon Kyung Joo, a researcher at the South Korean government-funded Korea Institute for Defense Analyses. North Korea has begun emphasizing Colonel Kim to show Russia that a reliable hand will be sent to lead the troop deployment, which includes special forces, he added.
“There were more reasons to keep him under wraps until now. Behind the lights he has clearly proven himself to be reliable,” he added.
Pyongyang began to bring Colonel Kim out of the shadows after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s June visit to Pyongyang, when the two countries agreed to a mutual defense deal. General Kim turned into “right-hand man’ of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
He visited flood-affected areas, watched special forces training as well as artillery exercises. Colonel Kim often held a pen and notebook while standing by the 40-year-old dictator’s side. The last North Korean state media report on General Kim was on October 6. Within days, he is believed to have traveled to Russia with the first batch of North Korean troops.
Colonel Kim was largely in obscurity for much of his career. South Korea’s government database of elite North Koreans – including more than 680 officials based on information from its spy agency and publicly available information – mentions only his name and job title. His age, birthplace or any other biographical details are still unknown.
This contrasts with the exposure North Korea’s military elites often receive in state media. Kim Jong Un’s public appearances, which dominate state television, radio and newspapers, are usually accompanied by top military officials. Colonel Kim was mentioned in state media in 2015 when he was promoted to head of North Korea’s special forces. A year later, he was elected to the country’s main policy-making body, the Central Committee of the Labor Party.
Its superiority was made clearer at a meeting in July 2020, where Kim Jong Un presented North Korea’s top generals with commemorative pistols. The weapons were named ‘Paektu’, a reference to a sacred mountain which according to North Korean lore served as a base for guerrilla fighters fighting the Japanese. It was also the alleged birthplace of Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, although independent historians dispute this. Colonel Kim, with the “holy weapon” in hand, was photographed almost next to the North Korean leader.
He slipped back into obscurity until March, when his current role as the No. 3 of the Korean People’s Army. A three-star general, he is one of North Korea’s 10 most important military figures and a successful stint in Russia could propel him even higher, according to Pyongyang observers.
Colonel Kim was among about 500 North Korean officers sent to Russia, according to Ukrainian and South Korean officials. North Korean soldiers were issued fake IDs to masquerade as Russian soldiers, Seoul’s spy agency said. They have moved to the front line carrying Russian equipment and wearing Russian uniforms, according to US officials.
In addition to troops, munitions and missiles, North Korea’s offerings to Russia appear to be expanding with Colonel Kim on the ground. Pyongyang began supplying M-1991 multiple launch rocket systems and M-1989 Koksan howitzers, which were seen in a photo traveling on top of a train moving through Krasnoyarsk, a city in central Russia, said Lt. Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council. of Ukraine.
