Colonel General Kim Yong Bok, one of the generals accompanying North Korean troops in Russia, is a mysterious figure close to dictator Kim Jong Un, The Wall Street Journal reported on November 20.

Kim Yong Bok, officially deputy chief of the army general staff, is expected to oversee the integration of North Korean troops into Russian forces, gain combat experience and establish a framework for future deployments. outlet reports.

A Ukrainian envoy listed him, along with Maj. Gen. Sin Kum Cheol and Col. Gen. Ri Chang Ho, during a UN Security Council meeting on October 30 as one of the generals commanding over 10,000 North Korean troops in Russia.

Kim’s role in Pyongyang’s military has long been shrouded in secrecy. He previously commanded a special forces unit of 200,000 soldiers tasked with carrying out covert missions on the Korean peninsula. His profile was raised after Russian President Vladimir Putin visited North Korea in June, with reports identifying him as No. 3 in the Korean People’s Army, according to Wall Street Journal reporting.

In July 2020, Kim was seen next door Kim Jong Un at a ceremony honoring military officials but largely disappeared from public view until recently.

This deployment coincides with North Korea’s formalized mutual defense agreement with Russia, announced on November 12. The agreement obliges the nations to help each other in the event of an armed attack.

The development follows reports of initial clashes between Ukrainian forces and North Korean troops in Russia’s Kursk Oblast. Western countries condemned the deployment of North Korean troops as an escalation, with the US reportedly responding by allows Ukraine to fire ATACMS missiles at Russian and North Korean troops massing in the region.

Russia prepares 50,000-strong offensive in latest bid to push Ukrainian army out of Kursk Oblast

Russia had been massing its forces for the past week in what appears to be preparations for a decisive push into the country’s Kursk Oblast. “The situation changes every day. Not so long ago we were on the offensive, and now we are on the defensive,” says a 35-year-old artilleryman.