"The most worrisome part is..." Korean Peninsula security going to extremes [Y transcript]

■ Host: Lee Yeo-jin, anchor Jang Won-seok
■ Starring: Kim Yong-hyun, professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University

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

◇Anchor> The Ukrainian president predicted that the North Korean military is sending troops because of money, so how much foreign currency can be earned if 10,000 troops are sent?

◆ Kim Yong-hyun> It's hard to specify exactly.In the past, many of our soldiers participated in the Vietnam War. Even then, our soldiers traded a lot of dollars for their lives. In the process, dollars actually became the cornerstone of our economic development. Of course, that wasn't all, but it played a very important role. North Korea may also be thinking of Russian specialties. So the salary that Russian dispatchers can have is three or four times more likely to be paid than the salary of ordinary workers, four or five times more. These salaries come to North Korea, and in the process, North Korea's economy is quite difficult right now. It is very likely to be used as seed money to overcome these difficult situations. In this regard, President Zelensky probably said that. Anyway, it is believed that it has created a way for a lot of North Korean labor to enter the country after the dispatch of troops and after the end of the war.

◇ Anchor> You explained that Russia needs one person at a time because the front line is long, but North Korea has some political intention other than earning foreign currency. Because special forces are very valuable and important to any military, I can't imagine sending them to such a dangerous place easily.

◆ Kim Yong-hyun > That's right. The fact that special forces have gone is generally a premise of battle, you can think of it as this. So, it should be considered to be combat rather than civil operations from the back or guarding the logistical line, but anyway, the fact that North Korean troops were sent like that must be considering not only economic benefits, but also political and military benefits. For example, North Korea needs high-quality optical lenses that correspond to the eyes of military spy satellites. In addition, advanced video recording technology is also needed, but North Korea does not seem to have that right now. Also, North Korea is called an SLBM, but it seems that it has not yet properly equipped with all the major technical parts of submarine-launched ballistic missiles. The same goes for nuclear-powered submarines. If North Korea brings high-quality military technology in exchange for these deployments, the strategic balance on the Korean Peninsula could be substantially damaged. This part is also a very worrying part.



Excerpted from the conversation: Lee Mi-young, editor of the digital news team

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