A laser beam downs drones by heating up and “frying” their electronics – every invisible, soundless “shot” is extra exact and more cost effective than an air defence missile.
Hanwha Aerospace, a South Korean defence firm, has fire-tested and is about to begin mass-producing the world’s first-ever optical fibre laser weapon.
And Hanwha is able to provide it to Ukraine if Seoul lifts a ban on the export of deadly weapons to Kyiv “in light of North Korean military activities”, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol mentioned in late October.
His assertion adopted North Korea’s deployment of about 10,000 troopers to western Russia, turning into the primary overseas energy to step into the Russia-Ukrainian battle.
Nevertheless, the US president-elect might stand in the way in which.
Donald Trump and his fledgling administration members have repeatedly mentioned that they wish to restrict US army help to Ukraine – and even cease it altogether.
Seoul might should comply with go well with, two South Korean officers instructed Bloomberg on Thursday.
Nevertheless, a member of the Ukrainian delegation that visited Seoul earlier this month doubts it.
“I don’t think they will refuse. They seemed rather independent and self-sufficient in their diplomatic and military politics,” Roman Bochkala, co-founder of a Ukrainian charity fund that delivers arms and different essential provides to the entrance line, instructed Al Jazeera.
“It’s paramount to [South] Korea to maximally compensate for the potential danger of real combat experience the North Korean army might get,” he mentioned.
One other Ukrainian analyst agreed – however mentioned that Seoul might not promote different deadly weaponry to Kyiv.
“Such [weaponry] will most likely not be limited, but we will have to pay for it,” Kyiv-based analyst Aleksey Kushch instructed Al Jazeera. “But Seoul will hardly make artillery shells for us. And won’t send any tanks.”
South Korea has reportedly equipped lots of of hundreds of artillery shells through america and pledged a $2.3bn low-interest mortgage to Kyiv.
Seoul is the world’s Tenth-largest arms exporter, and its shoppers already embody 4 nations that border Russia – Poland, Estonia, Finland and Norway.
However Kyiv could be the first to obtain the lasers in what may considerably knock down the worth of Ukraine’s air defence.
“[South] Koreans swear that their laser will fry enemy drones with an almost 100 percent guarantee, destroying engines or other electronic equipment within 10-20 seconds,” Bochkala mentioned.
The South Korean techniques will complement Patriots, superior air defence techniques that price $1bn every and want $4m missiles which can be typically spent on downing Russia’s $50,000 drones.
The laser wants nothing however electrical energy – and could possibly be deployed to the Ukrainian cities that don’t have any Patriots or comparable Western or Taiwanese air defence techniques.
“There are never too many good friends. And South Korea may become one for Ukraine,” Bochkala mentioned.
North Koreans in Kursk
In early August, Ukrainian forces seized a bit of Russia’s westernmost Kursk area – and have held on to most of it.
Kyiv hoped that Moscow would deploy troops from the entrance strains of the japanese Ukrainian area of Donbas to repel the shock invasion that roiled the Russian populace.
“Many didn’t give a damn about the war until Ukrainians entered Kursk. Now, they’re volunteering in droves, because the motherland is in danger,” a Moscow resident instructed Al Jazeera on situation of anonymity.
However it took the Kremlin weeks to begin the counteroffensive because it saved on pushing in Donbas, taking a number of essential cities and villages.
North Korean troopers joined the fray earlier this month, in response to Western and Ukrainian intelligence and officers.
“It significantly boosts the enemy’s potential,” Lieutenant-Normal Ihor Romanenko, former deputy head of Ukraine’s basic employees of armed forces, instructed Al Jazeera.
Nevertheless, Moscow determined to not focus the North Koreans in a single place as an alternative deploying small teams to Russian models.
“They are not collected in one fist, which would have been more effective had there been a [North Korean] division or a brigade,” Romanenko mentioned.
With some 1.3 million servicemen and thousands and thousands of reservists, North Korea has one of many world’s largest armies.
It’s armed with Soviet-era weaponry or its domestically produced replicas.
And although the Kursk deployment might look sensational, North Korean chief Kim Jong Un the truth is “mirrors” what a South Korean chief did half a century in the past, in response to analyst Kushch.
Between 1964 and 1973, when South Korea was poorer and fewer industrialised than the pro-Communist North, South Korean President Park Chong-hee deployed some 350,000 troopers to Washington’s battle Vietnam – together with tens of hundreds of staff.
In trade, he secured multibillion-dollar US investments, credit and expertise transfers that helped flip South Korea into one of many world’s most technologically superior and prosperous nations.
Vietnam accused South Koreans of battle crimes, however Park paid no heed because the financial growth helped him cement his grip on energy.
‘Putin will reserve a Korean trump card’
Kim Jong Un is equally unceremonious as Moscow props his nation’s financial system with billions of {dollars} paid for arms and ammunition, discounted provides of power, meals and applied sciences.
Kim’s Kursk deployment might turn out to be a robust bargaining chip within the ceasefire talks with President-elect Donald Trump’s future administration.
“Putin will reserve a Korean trump card up his sleeve before future talks with Trump – or for the final attack in the Kursk region that for now seems to be maximally delayed,” Kushch mentioned.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian troops in Kursk repelled a large Russian advance and reported first losses amongst North Koreans.
The deployment might seem like Putin’s weak spot amid reviews of a dire scarcity of manpower, however the consensus in Russia is: “Let them fight instead of us,” in response to Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Kyiv-based Penta suppose tank.
In the meantime, the rapprochement between Moscow and Pyongyang possible irks Beijing, North Korea’s major backer, in response to Fesenko.
“North Korea is eluding China’s monopolistic influence, and Russia’s clout in Beijing’s own back yard is on the rise,” he instructed Al Jazeera.
There’s additionally a big threat of escalation on the Korean Peninsula as “after battle-testing his troops in a real war, Kim may get excited by the smell of blood,” Fesenko mentioned.
