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North Korean troops train at a base designed to emulate the layout of Seoul and other major South Korean cities, a South Korean lawmaker said, citing testimony from North Korean prisoners of war in Ukraine.
If the testimony is true, it is an indication that North Korea has not given up on the possibility of invading the South, a South Korean ministry official said.
The POW’s testimony was revealed during an interview -- broadcast on South Korean radio and simultaneously livestreamed on YouTube -- with National Assemblyman Yu Yong-weon about his recent visit to Ukraine, where he met with two North Korean POWs.
North Korea has sent an estimated 12,000 soldiers to fight in Russia’s war against Ukraine, although neither Moscow or Pyongyang has publicly confirmed this.
During the interview, Yu said that one POW identified as Ri told him that the base was located in Koksan county, North Hwanghae province, just over 40 miles (65 kilometers) from the DMZ that divides North from South.
“When you go to this training site, it is a Ministry of Defense training ground,” said Ri, according to an audio clip from their conversation played during the program. “The training ground has geographic shapes and buildings resembling those of Seoul’s Jongno-gu (a downtown district), Busan, Daegu, Jeonju, and Jeju island. ... It’s in Koksan.”
Radio Free Asia looked at satellite photos of the Koksan area in North Korea’s North Hwanghae province for evidence of what Ri described.
In a photo taken by Google Earth on Nov. 25, 2022, the Koksan Training Base, located next to a mountain and surrounded by fields, has a headquarters, a barracks and what appears to be many buildings that private satellite imagery analyst Jacob Bogle told RFA Korean closely resembled Ri’s description.
Based on the satellite images, The entire base is approximately 3.5 kilometers (2 miles) long and 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) wide, with the model buildings spread over approximately 40 hectares (100 acres)
“The base complex is split up into 4 sections of MOUT across the area,” Bogle said, using the abbreviation for “military operations on urbanized terrain.”
“Most are simple, there may be around 5 structures that are two floors, but the vast majority are single-story structures, but some are as long as 36 meters (40 yards),” he said.
Bogle said that about half of these buildings are likely unfinished, roofless structures, that are likely models for training purposes rather than actual buildings
Further analysis of historical satellite imagery reveals that a full-scale urban warfare training facility was established in earnest at Koksan Training Base in 2020.
Previously, there were only a few structures with only some outer walls, but since 2020, at least 72 mock buildings have been newly constructed.
In addition to the buildings, there are 33 model tanks, and 8 model fighter jets situated within the training ground, which appear to have remained in their current location for over 20 years.
“One key sign that the fighter jets and tanks aren’t real is that they never move,” said Bogle. “The fighter jets, for example, have been in the exact same position since 2003. These mockups are used to familiarize recruits with the overall appearance of DPRK and enemy equipment in basic training drills, and some are used as target practice.”
DPRK is the abbreviation of North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Looking forward in time, Google Earth photos from Aug. 14 and Sept. 28, 2024 show two rows of new structures, and evidence that dirt in the vacant lots has been disturbed.
“That can indicate ongoing drills on the site,” said Bogle. Referring to the new buildings he said that the low-res imagery made it difficult to determine what they were exactly, but their size and positioning suggest they are target structures.
The Koksan Training Base is also believed to have been visited by the country’s leader Kim Jong Un in Sept. 2024, when state media reported that he gave onsite guidance to soldiers at a training ground.
NK news, a U.S. media outlet specializing in North Korea, analyzed a documentary video broadcast on the state-run Korean Central Television in January about the visit, and reported it likely took place in Koksan.
On Friday, during a press briefing by the South Korean Ministry of Unification, a reporter asked spokesperson Goo Byung-sam about Ri’s testimony and the satellite imagery in the Korean version of this report, which was published on Thursday.
The spokesperson said it was a military matter and that it would be inappropriate for the Ministry of Unification to comment.
“That said, if this report is true, it would be yet another piece of evidence that North Korea has not abandoned its ambitions of invading the South,” Goo said.
Translated by Claire S. Lee and Leejin J. Chung. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.