"not a dispatched soldier, but a bulletproof mercenary".the first "daenam frontier" on the trash balloon.

■ Host: Anchor Kim Youngsoo Kim and Anchor Lee Ha-rin
■ Starring: Moon Sung-mook, Director of the Unification Strategy Center of the National Strategic Research Institute

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN NewsON] when quoting.

[Anchor]
For the first time, the U.S. government officially acknowledged the dispatch of North Korean troops to Russia. In the midst of this, Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun is not sending troops. He said he's evaluated as a 'bullet-asser' mercenary. Early this morning, the debris of South Korean garbage balloons sent by North Korea fell to the presidential office building in Yongsan. For the first time, a large number of South Korean leaflets have been found. Let's talk in detail with Moon Sung-mook, director of the Unification Strategy Center of the Korea National Strategic Research Institute. Welcome. North Korea seems to be sending garbage balloons for the 30th time, but recently, it was analyzed that a GPS device is attached. Did he drop in Yongsan with that GPS device?

[Moon Sung-mook]
That's what I think. Because balloons are hard to control. So the balloons that I sent before usually have a timer and calculate the distance and time, and when they fly about this far, they explode there, so when the timer starts working, the garbage that was attached to it falls down, but I couldn't check whether all the balloons I sent had GPS.Ma confirmed that the one that fell into the presidential office in Yongsan had GPS.

Isn't GPS literally a location information system? If so, the North Korean military authorities can see that the balloon's movement path and then the location where it falls. So, I don't think we can rule out the possibility that he did it quite intentionally, given the contents of the leaflet contained this time.

[Anchor]
It was the first time we had spent a leaflet with South Korea like this. It's the 30th time I've sent a trash balloon.

[Moon Sung-mook]
In fact, North Korea has been conducting leaflet operations for a long time. I did it a long time ago in the past. As you know well, during the inter-Korean talks, North Korea sent leaflets to us at the time when we signed the June 4 Agreement in 2004. However, after the June 4 agreement, we asked and stopped the distribution of leaflets, but in fact, the leaflets sent by North Korea do not cause our people to be shaken. That's not working. But this is the first time I've sent a leaflet. I sent it 30 times, and most of it was filth or trash, but it was a piece of paper. But it's the first time I've ever had a leaflet in it. It is presumed that what fell into the presidential office was deliberately put in it and sent it.

[Anchor]
So what is the intention, and isn't it dangerous? Don't we have to prepare for this? Aren't you saying that you can attach a GPS and drop and pop the balloon anywhere you want?

[Moon Sung-mook]
Of course. What I'm concerned about right now is if there are any dangerous objects there. Poisoning, chemical weapons, or biological weapons can cause enormous damage. I worry about this a lot. I'm sure he has that in mind. However, North Korea's sending balloons now is intended to make our people uneasy, worsen public opinion, and stop the arrows of criticism going to the South Korean government or organizations sending leaflets to the North, rather than killing our lives or causing such physical damage.

[Anchor]
So it can be said that it contains a message criticizing the president and his wife, right?

[Moon Sung-mook]
That's right. Didn't you recently claim that North Korea caused a drone disturbance and that it fell over Kim Jong-un's Labor Party building? It's similar in a way. Balloons fall on top of our presidential office, and there are leaflets that slander our president, so it could be a measure with that in mind. If you look at our political circles or public opinion recently, the president's approval rating has dropped a little.

And such public opinion about the President's wife. With these things in mind. In fact, on October 1st, the president warned Kim Jong-un in his congratulatory speech on Armed Forces Day. Kim Jong-un is the last to make provocations and nuclear attacks against us. When I said that there was no scenario, North Korea criticized the president for talking about such a hectic story toward a nuclear power, and I sent a leaflet with similar information, but sending a poison is a huge provocation. Then, I understand that Kim Jong-un is also very restrained and careful because our military really punishes strongly with the so-called river-end response. In order to make such an attack, North Korea has many weapons other than that.

[Anchor]
And let's move on to the story of the North Korean troops sent to Russia. The National Intelligence Service and the White House estimate that the number of North Korean troops dispatched to Russia is about 3,000. We'll explain it in more detail on the screen.
The number of troops dispatched for the first time from the 8th to the 13th is about 1,500. It is estimated that an additional 15,000 people have been dispatched since the 23rd,
.

North Korean troops traveled from Wonsan, North Korea, to Vladivostok, Russia by boat, and are currently training at three locations in Russia's Far East. As early as today, they are likely to be deployed to Kursk, the Russian mainland, which is occupied by Ukraine. More than 10,000 latecomers are also expected to arrive in Russia soon. In today's parliamentary inspection, Minister Kim Yong-hyun said that the North Korean military is only a "bullet mercenary," not a dispatch, and I will listen to it myself.

[Anchor]
Once the North Korean military reaches the battleground, it is expected to be deployed today, so what role will the North Korean military play?

[Moon Sung-mook]
I don't know exactly what it's going to be like right now.Ma, but the most urgent area seems to be the Kursk region. First, it was occupied by Ukraine. It's been a few months since the occupation, and as you can see on the screen, some parts of Kursk are recovering, but I know that it's still quite insufficient. And in a way, the treaty between North Korea and Russia and Russia and North Korea. Article 4 of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty states that war is caused by invasion.

In fact, Kim Jong-un probably interpreted the judgment that Russia invaded Ukraine unilaterally before Kursk was invaded and before it was invaded, but since Ukraine entered the Russian mainland, Article 4 could be established and legally established. If so, it is generally believed that the first thing to do would be to send troops to the occupied area and drive Ukrainian forces out of the occupied Kursk region.

[Anchor]
What's on the screen right now is the image of a North Korean soldier. But it's a variety of military uniforms, but I think it's a Russian military uniform. The Minister of Defense described it as a mercenary. In the meantime, the U.S. has not acknowledged it, but recently confirmed it. However, both Russia and North Korea do not admit to sending troops. Why aren't North Korea and Russia talking about sending troops at all?

[Moon Sung-mook]
It's not that I don't do it at all. It's false news, groundless rumors, and the dispatch of North Korean troops has already been detailed by the National Intelligence Service through reconnaissance satellites. Then, knowing how many people went in the first round, how many people went in the second round, where they were deployed, I think this is the result of comprehensively using all available information assets and information collection assets.

The U.S. and NATO, which shared the results and NATO shared that they had not yet carefully confirmed the results for a while, are now saying that they have officially confirmed the evidence. I used the expression that Minister Kim Yong-hyun is a mercenary. As you can see on the screen right now, if the North Korean military wore a North Korean military outfit and went in with the North Korean military command system, it's definitely a dispatch. For example, when our military was also dispatched to Vietnam, the Korean military command was operated separately with the command of the Maengho Unit, Cheongryong Unit, and Baekma Unit.

In addition to that, there is a justification for protecting freedom when we go to the Zaytun Unit and what is this? They have no choice but to wear Russian military uniforms and enter Russia's command system, and if Russia sends them to the most battleground, they have no choice but to receive bullets. And would Kim Jong-un have that money, which is 2,000 dollars per North Korean soldier, almost 3 million won in our money, from there? It goes into Kim Jong Un's pocket nearly 80 to 90 percent. Then, in the end, it will inevitably result in the sale of it as expressed. If so, it remains to be seen whether Kim Jong-un's doing this will really help him get everything from Russia and maintain the Kim Jong-un regime as he calculated.

[Anchor]
The National Intelligence Service believes that the residents' agitation is considerable. It is said that the families of soldiers were relocated in groups, but where did they relocate?

[Moon Sung-mook]
I don't know because the NIS hasn't revealed where they moved to, but no matter how much North Korea controls the information, there is no family that doesn't know that their son went. So in the end, it seems clear that this is in the middle of quite difficulty as it is conveyed from mouth to mouth. So to prevent this rumor from spreading further, it seems that North Korean organizations, that is, control organizations, are taking measures to gather people separately to prevent the rumor from spreading.

From what I've heard, even among the dispatched personnel, we're running a murder operation in units of several people. So I've been told to immediately kill people who are shaking or trying to escape from it or who are trying to defect from the so-called camp, which is internal surveillance. So those things are a very big adventure for Kim Jong-un, I think.

[Anchor]
I'll give you a short last question. Isn't it difficult to draft in Russia right now? Russian youth are against recruiting conscripts and are not going. That's why countries all over the world are now recruiting mercenaries. However, it is said that about 3,000 North Koreans have gone from North Korea, so will more North Korean soldiers participate in the war?

[Moon Sung-mook]
First of all, according to the NIS' announcement, about 12,000 people will go by the end of the year. I think there is a good possibility of going further in the future depending on the situation. So I don't know if the personnel who were put in really quickly raise the criminal record and the war ends quickly, but if the situation continues, I think there is a good chance that Kim Jong-un, who sent once, will continue a little more.

[Anchor]
I see. That's all for today's talk. I was with Moon Sung-mook, director of the Unification Strategy Center of the Korea Institute for National Strategy. Thank you.