On the one hand, this story is coming out of South Korea’s spy agency. And like a lot of stories about Ukraine, it should be taken with a grain of salt. On the other hand, North Korea is committed to the alliance with Russia and it has few exports except weapons and its human slaves.

Even if North Korea is deploying a sizable contingent of troops, they may not be there for front-line combat. But then again they might be. What does North Korea have to lose after all except human bodies?

North Korea’s growing involvement in the war in Ukraine is a “grave security threat” to the world, South Korea’s president warned Friday.

South Korean intelligence believes North Korea has decided to send 12,000 soldiers and 1,500 special forces to aid Russia in its war in Ukraine, news outlets reported Friday, in what would be Pyongyang’s first major deployment of ground troops in a war overseas.

North Korean soldiers have already been on the ground in advisory roles, according to Ukrainian officials. But sending troops into combat would mark a dramatic escalation in the country’s involvement in the war.

The Ukraine war went multinational a while back. Iran and Turkey are both supplying sizable amounts of drones to different sides. The Russians are relying on Muslim soldiers and the Ukrainians have volunteers from around the world.

However, 10,000 Norks fighting a war in Eastern Europe is a geopolitical game-changer. And it also shows the duality of the conflict. Having the Norks bleed is a good thing, but it also gives them battlefield experience. Much like the Syrian War, a lot of the right people dying in combat also means a lot of the wrong people getting experience that they can use for other wars. I don’t think the situation in Israel would be where it is today if not for the Syrian Civil War.

If China makes a move on Taiwan and there’s a regional war in Asia (a much more plausible scenario than the constant cries of a nuclear war over Ukraine), what happens in Ukraine could shape the outcome of that war.

The Ukraine war (despite all the hype) isn’t WWIII. But it can serve as a training ground for WWIII which will be fought elsewhere, whether in Asia or the Middle East.