North Korean soldiers who have been deployed to Russia are getting “unfettered” access to the internet in Russia and are using it to watch pornography, according to a Tuesday report.
The Pentagon estimates that up to 10,000 North Korean soldiers have been deployed to Russia in recent weeks as the two countries’ military alliance grows closer. Typically, North Korean soldiers and all civilians who live in the country have strictly restricted or zero access to the internet, but the troops who have been deployed to Russia now have more accessibility and are using this newfound internet access to watch pornography, according to an unnamed source who spoke to The Financial Times’ Gideon Rachman.
“A usually reliable source tells me that the North Korean soldiers who have deployed to Russia have never had unfettered access to the internet before. As a result, they are gorging on pornography,” Rachman wrote in a post on X on Tuesday.
What exactly Pyongyang’s goal in sending North Korean troops to Russia is unclear, although reports indicate that they are present to help Russian forces in their fight against Ukraine, whether through physical combat means or logistics support. Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang has commented on the matter.
The troops would, at the very least, bolster Russia’s manpower, which has experienced constant turnover since the war began. Russia recruits nearly 30,000 new troops a month, but that’s roughly equivalent to the amount of troops who are killed in combat in the same time frame.
“I am increasingly concerned that the Kremlin plans to use these North Korean soldiers to support Russia’s combat operations in Russia’s Kursk region near the border with Ukraine,” U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters in late October, alongside his South Korean counterpart. “Of course, we know that Putin has gone tin cupping to get weapons from [North Korea] and Iran. Turning to a pariah state like North Korea for troops just underscores how much trouble he is in.”
It’s also not clear what North Korea is getting in return, although both Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have vowed deeper cooperation in recent years on military, intelligence, trade and diplomatic matters.
During a meeting in June, Kim promised Putin “full support and solidarity to the Russian government, army and people in carrying out the special military operation in Ukraine to protect sovereignty, security interests and territorial integrity.”
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