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North Korean families are paying more than 100 times the average monthly salary for fake tuberculosis diagnoses to keep their young men from being sent to the Russian front, according to a new report.
North Korean families are paying exorbitant bribes for fake tuberculosis diagnoses to prevent their young men from being deployed to fight in Russia, according to a new report by Radio Free Asia.
The cost of these fraudulent medical certificates has risen fivefold over the past year, now exceeding $500—more than 100 times the average monthly salary of a North Korean government worker. Families resort to these desperate measures amid fears that their sons may never return alive if sent to the frontlines.
The U.S. and South Korea estimate that North Korea has already deployed up to 12,000 troops to assist Russian forces in Kursk, where they are engaged in intense fighting against Ukrainian counteroffensives. Despite this, neither Moscow nor Pyongyang have officially acknowledged the presence of North Korean troops in Russia.
A captured North Korean soldier told Ukrainian officials that he was not informed beforehand about his deployment to Russia and did not even know who he was fighting against.
