[nuconvert]

I’m not surprised. But is it Kim Jong-un initiating it or the IRI? The Iranians have hired N. Korean military before for a variety of things, so why not this?

[TigerLikesRooster]

Well, probably both. Since N. Koreans have maintained long-term presence in Syria, Assad can definitely talk directly to N. Koreans, and vice versa. On the other hand, Iranians approached cash-strapped Kim Jong-un with lucrative deal. Iranians can take care of logistical problems to bring N. Korean soldiers there.

It is also possible that the middlemen who arranged this are Russians. One scenario I entertained last fall was that Russians bring N. Korean soldiers into their country(they share border,) train them, and ship them to Syrian battlefield via land or sea.