The cadres of the North’s troops in Russia raise concerns about malnutrition

Military personnel believed to be from North Korea line up to receive Russian military supplies on Oct. 19 in a video released by Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security, also known as Pravdi. (SCREEN CAPTURE)

Videos of North Korean soldiers in Russia for training leaked online in recent days have reignited concerns in South Korea about the extent of malnutrition within the regime due to food shortages.

While South Korean intelligence has said in its previous disclosures that North Korean troops stationed in Russia are members of Pyongyang’s special forces, their short and lanky stature in footage released by both Ukrainian and Russian media suggests that they, as and their compatriots, also suffer from a lack of adequate nutrition, according to observers.

Figures obtained by ruling People’s Party official Ahn Cheol-su from Hanawon, the South Korean agency responsible for integrating defectors from the North, show that the average height of adult North Korean refugees under the age of 30 is 165 centimeters (5.4 feet). . — almost 10 centimeters shorter than their 18-year-old South Korean counterparts, whose average height is 174.4 centimeters.

Male defectors from North Korea at age 20 also weigh an average of about 58.4 kilograms (128 lb), which is 14.3 kilograms less than the average South Korean male at age 18.

The defectors from North Korea, who were admitted to Hanawon at the age of 15, are even shorter at 156.6 centimeters and weigh about 48.4 kilograms.

According to South Korean intelligence, most of the North Koreans recently sent to Russia are in their teens or early 20s, when the regime’s male residents are expected to fulfill its 10-year military service requirement.

Using photographs and footage of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, South Korean intelligence officials estimated that he is about 170 centimeters tall and weighs about 140 kilograms, twice the weight of the average defector.

In footage of her standing next to her father, Kim’s daughter, Kim Joo-ae, around 11, is nearly the same height, making her 20 centimeters taller than North Korean female defectors of the same age, who are around 141. 1 centimeter. , according to Hanawon.

MICHAEL LEE ([email protected])