North Korea on Monday confirmed for the first time that it had dispatched soldiers to assist Russia in its war against Ukraine, with leader Kim Jong Un hailing the troops’ efforts to "annihilate" Ukrainian forces and reclaim Russian-held territories.
In a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party said the deployment was in line with a mutual defence treaty signed between Moscow and Pyongyang last year.
According to KCNA, Kim praised the soldiers for participating alongside Russian forces in the “liberation” of the Kursk region, describing them as “heroes and representatives of the honour of the motherland”.
“They who fought for justice are all heroes,” Kim was quoted as saying. He also reaffirmed North Korea’s pride in its alliance with Russia, calling it “an honour to have an alliance with such a powerful state as the Russian Federation”.
The announcement follows reports over the past several months of North Korean military personnel operating in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. Until now, however, Pyongyang had remained silent on its involvement.
South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported that Kim intends to erect a monument in Pyongyang to commemorate the North Korean soldiers who participated in the fighting, acknowledging, for the first time, casualties among its troops.
“Flowers praying for immortality will be placed before the tombstones of the fallen soldiers,” Yonhap cited the statement as saying.
Estimates regarding the scale of North Korea’s involvement and its casualties vary. Ukrainian officials earlier this year claimed that approximately 14,000 North Korean troops had been deployed, with 3,000 arriving as reinforcements following early battlefield losses.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that around 4,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed or wounded, whereas the United States placed the number closer to 1,200. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) estimated 300 killed and 2,700 injured.
The confirmation from Pyongyang comes two days after Russia’s chief of staff, Valery Gerasimov, praised the “heroism” of the North Korean soldiers during a report to President Vladimir Putin, crediting their contribution to the regaining of the Kursk region.
However, Ukraine’s General Staff disputed these claims, asserting that Ukrainian defensive operations in parts of the Kursk region were ongoing.
North Korea’s move marks a significant deepening of military cooperation with Moscow since Kim and Putin signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement in June last year, pledging mutual support in the event of war.
The confirmation is likely to raise tensions further in the ongoing conflict, while also prompting concern among Western governments over the expanding scope of international involvement in the Ukraine war.
