The translation of the news flash in Spanish is “Dictatorships Do Not Function.”
For anyone who believes that authoritarian regimes are good for anyone but the dictator and his family, there is a perfect example to bet against authoritarians.
The BBC, NPR, Al Jazeera, and South Korea’s intelligence service—consistently cite an initial North Korean deployment of around 11,000 troops in the Ukrainian Conflict, mainly from so-called “elite” units such as the Storm Corps. South Korean parliamentary reports say the overall number may have reached 15,000 by late spring, 2025.
I am not sure who was more desperate to send North Koreans into the war. Putin needed more bodies for his meat grinder, and Kim Jong Un needed to prove that he was a macho man.
According to most reliable reports, between 40 and 60% of the North Koreans were casualties (killed and wounded). This is a very high percentage, and it shows how unprepared North Korea was for the war. If they sent their “elite” units, then what must the regular North Korean units be like?
It also dramatizes the general effectiveness of authoritarian countries. There is a tendency to believe that modern authoritarian countries must be like virtually unstoppable Roman Legions. Until we learned that Hitler fed his soldiers amphetamines throughout World War II, many people thought Nazi soldiers were the most effective soldiers in the world. They were the most hostile and aggressive, but not the most effective.
This highlights the discrepancy between the authoritarian propaganda of military prowess and the reality. Why does the discrepancy exist? The following is from Nicky Cammarata’s post about why the North Korean soldiers were decimated in Ukraine.
Russia’s use of North Korean troops revealed the ultimate limitation of totalitarian systems: they can control populations, but they cannot create the human spirit necessary for effective combat.
North Korean forces failed not because of poor tactics or equipment, but because decades of systematic oppression had hollowed out the psychological foundations that make soldiers fight.
In the end, Kim Jong-un’s “elite” forces proved what many suspected: an army of broken spirits cannot win against those fighting for something they believe in. The 40% casualty rate wasn’t just military failure — it was the inevitable result of a system that destroys human agency in the name of control.
The irony is complete: in trying to help Russia expand its sphere of influence, North Korea only demonstrated why totalitarian systems ultimately consume themselves.
You cannot build effective military power on the foundation of human misery, no matter how absolute your control appears to be.
Source: Defense Express