Kim Jong-un's gambling brings an 'economic windfall' worth one-third of GDP... Additional troop deployment seems certain.

Regarding the rumor that up to 50,000 additional North Korean troops will be dispatched to Russia, the BBC reported on the 14th, "It seems certain that more North Korean troops will join Russia's war effort."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has raised the possibility of sending additional troops to North Korea and requesting support for South Korea's air defense system, raised the expected number of additional troops last month, suggesting the possibility of sending as many as 50,000 troops.

In an article that day highlighting North Korea's deployment of troops to Russia, the BBC said, "For North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un, sending troops to Kursk was a gamble. Although there were many casualties, this gamble paid off for this poor and isolated country."

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense's General Intelligence Service (HUR) estimates that among the 13,000 North Korean soldiers dispatched from the end of 2024, 3,000 have died and 1,500 have been injured. BBC Korea analyzed the memorial facility and estimated that the number of deaths was approximately 2,300.

HUR estimates that the 8,500 North Korean soldiers remaining on Russian territory are organized into four brigades and are tasked with blocking the Ukrainian army at Kursk and protecting the Russian border.

“They are not participating in combat operations” and “are not observed in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine,” HUR said in a statement to the BBC.

Citing experts, the BBC cited 'economic windfall' and 'geopolitical transformation' as what the North Korean regime achieved through 'gamble'.

According to Lim Soo-ho, senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy, North Korea's income from arms sales and troop dispatches to Russia is estimated at $10 billion (approximately 13.45 trillion won), which is close to one-third of its gross domestic product (GDP).

In addition, there is an analysis that cooperation with Russia has led to a great geopolitical transformation that brings about a change in the long-standing dependence on China.

The BBC pointed out, "Their dispatch of troops has enormous economic and political value to North Korea, and Russia desperately needs them," and added, "It is a relationship that is mutually beneficial to Russia and North Korea, and it is a solidarity that comes with a price."

“In the end, North Korea will continue to send soldiers to fight in Russia’s war,” he predicted, “but only as long as it is profitable.”