But they could be very effective cannon fodder.
Which is the most important function of a good soldier in Putin’s army.
They’re certainly used to hardship, cold, craptacular rations, and mistreatment by their superiors. So the organizational “culture” is a good fit. 
Is this actually plausible, or just a rumor/propaganda? North Korea can say they’re going to do a lot of things.
One thing’s for sure: Kim has no intention of letting any of those soldiers leave North Korea and then come back home alive. His power (and life) depends on keeping his people ignorant of what life is like anywhere else in the world.
But Kim is not sending them out into the world, he is sending them into a kill zone. The ones he will be sending will not be his eleite fighters, but ones he has deemed the worst of the his army. The one in ten that come back will have stories of how much better they are staying put in the paridise of North Korea.
Why are people assuming Kim will send soldiers? He could empty his prisons just as Putin did.
Oh, great. So a bunch of North Korean criminals (with a leavening of innocent people who fell afoul of officials who just wanted them gone), in terrible physical shape, who don’t know the Russian language, likely haven’t had military training, will maybe get uniforms, get handed weapons they don’t know how to use and which probably don’t work anyway, and be shoved as bullet catchers into the next human wave assault.
however, N-Korean infantry seems to have superior body armor … so there’s that!
Heh. Impressive to be sure! Though I doubt any North Korean conscripts sent to Ukraine would be given the good stuff (or any stuff beyond the clothes on their backs) to take along.
So once the Ukrainians see a mass of underfed emancipated Asian soldiers coming at them with fake guns, they just start tossing them food and entice them to come over. It would be a propaganda disaster for North Korea to have their prisoners surrender to a western nation and give detailed stories of life in North Korea. Not going to happen
Ostensibly, they are supposed to be reconstruction workers to free up Russian conscripts to get thrown into the line. You can bet the NK volunteers will be behind a Russian minefield - and not be given a map of their location. Hope they like Borscht.
From The War Zone
"Last August, a Russian talk show host claimed that 100,000 North Korean “volunteers” were ready to assist Russia in Ukraine.
Russia Channel One talk show host Igor Korotchenko suggested Russia welcome the North Koreans’ help not only on the frontlines but also as workers. Pyongyang confirmed a plan to send laborers to rebuild occupied Ukraine, according to a report from NK News at the time."
So, essentially slave labor.
Ukraine is releasing some convicts to join the military while Russia is harassing minorities and immigrants to join up. Seems like both sides are feeling the pinch for more soldiers.
There are all manner of jobs the new recruits can do. Mine field inspectors, drone spotters, morgue duty…
It sounds like Ukraine will need to recruit translators for the new crop of Russian soldiers surrendering.
The Economist reports that Russia has casualties estimated between 462,000 and 728,000. More than all the USSR and Russia lost between 1945 and 2022 combined. The question is whether the West will lose focus before Russia collapses. Clearly that’s what Putin is banking on.
Again we are having a discussion about the difference between casualties, losses and deaths. The graph says “killed”, the tweet says “losses” and your post says “casualties”.
Some investigation does show this is deaths and comes from MediaZone: Russian losses in the war with Ukraine. Mediazona count, updated
They also track excess deaths in Russia which have been climbing to an alarming level.
Yeah it’s my own feeling that casualties is more likely accurate. Maybe I’m wrong but 1/2 million dead means likely 1 million wounded based on typical ratios. Perhaps it’s my own limitation that keeps me from accepting those level of dead and wounded.
Given Russian levels of care for their troops, I wouldn’t be surprised if their dead:wounded ratio is much higher than for more civilized militaries.
Russia delenda est.
Ukraine has had success the past couple of days with drone attacks in western Russia. On Sunday, July 7, a warehouse was hit in the Voronezh region that Ukraine claimed was a primary storage site for surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, shells for tanks and artillery, and boxes of cartridges for firearms.
Russia, in its inimitable Russian way, claimed the warehouse was NOT hit by drones, and that the drones sent to hit it were destroyed. However, falling wreckage from the drones triggered the “detonation of explosive objects.” Which … comes to the same thing, in my mind.
On Tuesday, July 9, Russian officials said two power substations and an oil depot caught fire after Ukraine launched drone attacks on several regions, including Volgograd, Kursk, and Rostov. Once again, those stalwart Russian air-defense crews destroyed all the drones, but doggone it, more falling debris from the drones caused the damage.
All the areas attacked are in Russia proper (not occupied Ukrainian territory). Voronezh and Kursk are northeast of Kharkiv in Ukraine. Rostov is southeast of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions in Ukraine. Volgograd is east of Ukraine, roughly 450 km (280 miles) from the original border.