Months ago, Kim Jong Un began pulling one of his generals who had been largely unseen and unpublicized into the spotlight with him. Unlike other military leaders in North Korea, Col. Gen. Kim Yong Bok was so far into the shadows that his age and hometown are not known to South Korea, the Wall Street Journal reports. But after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a mutual defense agreement with North Korea's leader in June, the general was spotted with his country's dictator watching military drills and training and visiting flooded areas—often at his side with a pen and notepad in hand. The reason for the change has become clear: The general was being sent to Russia.
Kim is in charge of the more than 11,000 North Korean soldiers deployed to help Russia's battle to reclaim territory lost to Ukraine. His low profile suited his old job as head of special forces, which carry out secret missions, but not his new position heading the force joining the Russia-Ukraine fighting. He's apparently charged with integrating his troops with Russia's, collecting battlefield insights to share at home, and setting up a pipeline for similar operations in the future, per the Journal. Analysts said the idea seems to be to project the idea—to both nations—that a trusted leader is handling the mission. "Kim Jong Un is saying to the Russians: 'I'm sending one of my top guys,'" said an North Korean expert at a think tank in Washington, DC. "He sits right next to me." (More North Korean military stories.)
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