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North Korea

Report: North Korean Soldiers Deserting Front Line

KOREA TIMES, CHOSUN ILBO, YONHAP (South Korea)

Worldcrunch

PYONGYANG – A “large number” of soldiers are deserting the North Korean ranks due to the growing tensions with its southern neighbor, US sanctions and insufficient food supplies, according to a South Korean official source.

The number of deserters stationed in the frontlines has multiplied by seven to eight times in recent months, the official told the Korea Times, as a standoff hardens over the North's decision to test nuclear missiles and the West's response with tighter sanctions.

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A North Korean soldier (Edward N. Johnson)

The AWOL troops are reported to be mostly low-level soldiers displeased by the lack of food supplies and concerned by the joint US and South Korean military exercises. “Frequent training without offering enough food may have led to their desertions,” says the source relayed by another South Korean news outlet Yonhap.

Kim Jong-Un visited the front Tuesday to rally his troops, telling them to “drive the enemy into a fire pit if so ordered,” quoted Chosun Ilbo.

This desertions comes as the tensions rise between both Koreas: the standing non-aggression pacts have recently been revoked by the North Korean authorities and unprecedented airforce maneuvers have been launched.

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

What Zelensky Won't Say Out Loud: Ukraine Is Running Short On Troops

Ukraine has a recruitment problem, with some units at only 70% of their intended strength. But President Zelensky is unwilling to talk about mass mobilization. The result is a parallel reality, with more recruitment coming from rural areas and lower classes, and some urbanites feeling victory is not too far, and their sacrifice is not needed.

photo of Zelensky and a Ukrainian soldier

Zelensky and a Ukrainian soldier.

Rustem Khalilov, Mykhailo Krygel & Olga Kyrylenko

KYIV — Walking through the center of Kyiv in the fall of 2023 can make you feel like you’ve gone back in time. The atmosphere in the city seems to transport you to either a carefree past or a promising future.

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You'll find bustling cafes filled with people enjoying oat milk lattes, business lunches, and people zipping around on scooters.

Amongst these images of ‘normal life’, the "Field of Memory" on Maidan Square, adorned with thousands of flags bearing the names or call signs of fallen soldiers, serves as a poignant reminder of the ongoing war. Lights and billboards of the Armed Forces of Ukraine beckon citizens to "join their ranks." But these often go ignored.

Military chaplain Andriy Zelinskyi has diagnosed this situation as "discursive incompatibility."

“An entirely self-contained and substantial illusion of an alternative reality has emerged,” he says. “A reality that acts as an escape from the pain, wounds, and losses of war. This alternative reality poses a significant threat to the unity needed to effectively resist Russia.”

One segment of society has been in the trenches for a year and a half, witnessing the daily horrors of destruction, injury, and the loss of comrades. Meanwhile, another segment lives on in cities like Kyiv, Lviv, or Odesa, offering donations, or just thinking about contributing, while attempting to distance themselves from the war as much as possible.

The government has also played a role in creating and maintaining this alternative reality. In its public communication, full-scale mobilization is a taboo. An honest conversation about mobilization as a guarantee for survival and eventual victory seems "out of place" when elections are looming.

Periodically, cracks in this alternative reality emerge. For instance, a publication in TIME magazine highlighted that in some military branches, personnel shortages were more critical than those of weapons and ammunition. The article was dismissed by Ukrainian authorities as nonsense.

In the meantime, without waiting for the transition to full-scale mobilization, some military units are taking matters into their own hands, actively seeking and motivating individuals who are willing to don a military uniform and bear arms.

Following the challenging defense of Bakhmut and Zaporizhzhia, it became clear that the Ukrainian military was in dire need of reinforcements.

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