What we know about North Korean troops in Ukraine

In short, it is hard to say.

The secretive kingdom may have one of the world’s largest militaries, with 1.28 million active soldiers, but – unlike Russia’s military – the Korean People’s Army (KPA) has no recent experience of combat operations.

Mark Cancian, from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), believes Pyongyang’s army is “thoroughly indoctrinated but with low readiness”.

However, he says, they should not be presumed to be cannon fodder – adding such a characterisation is “Ukrainian bravado”.

Ukrainian and South Korean intelligence services have said that many of the troops deployed to Russia are some of Pyongyang’s best, drawn from the 11th Corps, also known as the Storm Corps – a unit trained in infiltration, infrastructure sabotage and assassinations.

These soldiers are “trained to withstand a high degree of physical pain and psychological torture”, says Michael Madden, a North Korea expert from the Stimson Center in Washington.

“What they lack in combat they make up for with what they can tolerate physically and mentally,” he adds.

Mr Cancian agrees that “if these are special operations forces, they will be much better prepared than the average North Korean unit”.

“Further, the Russians appear to be giving them additional training, likely on the special circumstances of the war in Ukraine,” he adds.