Video Seems to Show North Korean Soldier Watching Raunchy Videos in Russia

Video shared on social media has purported to show what one North Korean soldier in Russia gets up to in his down time.

“It is reported that the video shows a North Korean mercenary fighting on the side of the Russian Federation, when he was watching dancing girls on social networks,” posted the pro-Kyiv X channel MilitaryNewsUa.

The unverified clip, which has been shared on other social media channels, shows the soldier in his barracks watching a clip on his mobile phone. It follows Kyiv’s statement that Pyongyang has sent around 11,000 troops to Russia’s Kursk region to join Vladimir Putin’s troops fighting against Ukrainian forces who staged an incursion into the border region on August 6.

While there is alarm at the prospect of a third country entering the war started by Putin, there are question marks over the training and capabilities of the North Korean troops, not to mention their lack of Russian-language skills.

Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry for comment.

A Financial Times journalist reported on November 5 that having moved from the secretive state, North Korean troops have availed themselves of unfettered access to the internet, with many using this newfound freedom to view pornography.

It has also been reported that Russian soldiers feel some resentment toward their new comrades. A clip posted on Telegram last week showed a clip taken by a Russian soldier lamenting the better living conditions for North Korean soldiers.

“I’ll show you the accommodation of our new friends,” the unnamed soldier says in the video posted on X, formerly Twitter, by WarTranslated (Dmitri) as he says in a disgruntled tone that North Korean soldiers have access to a fridge, a stove, a TV and bunks, while “we live in mud.”

“Putin’s elite have somehow managed to become not just second-rate, but third-rate soldiers in their own army,” wrote WarTranslated (Dmitri) next to the footage.

There are also doubts about the combat readiness of the troops sent by Pyongyang. Kim Young Hee, a North Korean escapee, has cast doubt on media reports portraying them as elite soldiers affiliated with the secretive state’s 11th Army Corps, noting that they appeared pale and relatively short.

“I wonder if they are really special forces,” Kim said, according to the Korea Times. “The special forces are physically fit and athletic, as they are well-fed and receive specialized training.”

In contrast, the soldiers she saw “looked malnourished, resembling ordinary soldiers I encountered in rural areas of North Korea.”