Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un confirmed for the first time that North Korea sent troops to fight Russia in the war with Ukraine, both leaders described the soldiers as “heroes.”
This recognition is proposed in the Kremlin (the Ukrainian competing Kremlin) claim that Ukrainian competing North Korean forces helped recapture Russia’s Kursk region.
“The Russian people will never forget the heroism of the North Korean special forces. We will always respect the North Korean heroes who have given their lives for Russia and our shared freedom, as well as their brothers and brothers of the Russian Federation,” Putin said in a statement issued by the Kremlin.
In a statement released on Monday, North Korea’s KCNA State News Agency quoted the ruling party as saying that the end of the battle in Russia’s Kursk region showed the “highest strategic level of corporate radical friendship” between North Korea and Russia.
After the silence of deployment, the recognition was widely reported in Western media. The Kremlin also said Russia is ready to provide assistance to North Korea, “similar to the support provided by soldiers in the Kursk region.”
Related: From ammunition to ballistic missiles: How North Korean weapons in the Ukrainian war
Russia claimed last week that Ukrainian troops had been expelled from the last Russian village they held. However, Kiev denied the claim and said Ukrainian troops are still operating in Belgorod, another Russian region that borders Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that despite Moscow’s claims that Ukrainian troops are still fighting in Kursk, despite Moscow’s claims that it “liberated” its western region.
“Our army continues to carry out missions in the Kursk and Bergorod regions – we are maintaining our presence on Russian territory.” In a statement earlier on Sunday, he acknowledged that situations in many areas, including Kursk, remain difficult.
The Central Military Commission of the North Korean ruling Workers’ Party said Kim decided to deploy troops under the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty he signed with Putin in June 2024.
“According to the order of the head of state, the sub-units of the Republic’s armed forces regarded Russian territory as one of its countries and demonstrated a coalition of companies between the two countries,” KCNA quoted the committee as saying.
North Korea “sees it as an honor to align with a powerful country like the Russian Federation,” KCNA added.
The agency quoted King as saying: “Those who fight for justice are heroes and representatives of the honor of the motherland.”
North Korea is estimated to send a total of 14,000 soldiers, including 3,000 reinforcements to replace those killed, injured or captured, Ukrainian officials said. Officials added that they had no experience in armored vehicles or drone warfare, and they suffered heavy casualties but quickly adapted.
Russia first confirmed on Saturday that North Korean soldiers fought with the Kursks. Neither Russia nor North Korea have confirmed or denied the deployment before.
The U.S. State Department said North Korea is concerned about its direct involvement in Russia’s war in Ukraine, and that military deployment in Pyongyang must end.
“We continue to care [North Korea’s] Directly participate in the war. [North Korea’s] Military deployment to Russia and any support provided by the Russian Federation [North Korea] In return, it must end. “A spokesman for the State Council said in an email that third countries such as North Korea “bearable responsibility” for the war.
Kim’s material support could win North Korea’s entry into Russian satellites and military technology to facilitate its nuclear missile program, he said a monument will soon be built in the capital Pyongyang to commemorate his soldiers’ “fighting feat.”
North Korea also provides Russia with a large amount of ammunition, artillery shells, ballistic missiles and other weapons. South Korea, the United States and its partners worry that Russia can reward North Korea by transferring high-tech weapons technology to its nuclear weapons program. North Korea is also expected to receive Russian economic and other aid.
Kim’s reference to “the tombstone of the fallen soldiers” is believed to be a public confirmation that the North Korean army was killed in the battle.
Zelenskyy set the number of North Koreans killed or injured at 4,000, although the United States estimates to be low, at about 1,200.
North Korea must “take important national measures to specialise in commemorating and caring for veteran families,” Kim said.
Experts say Moscow and Pyongyang are likely to have agreed to public disclosure of the deployment in advance.
“The two countries agreed to disclose the deployment because they believe the compensation benefits of the deployment exceeded the potential damage to their international image,” Yang Moo-jin, president of Seoul’s North Korean Studies University, told Agence France-Presse.
Yang said that by pledging national interests to deploy troops, North Korea could also “fullly alleviate internal rebound”, adding that the move reflects Pyongyang’s growing confidence.
He added: “North Korea may aim to show the victory achieved due to their participation, thus gaining greater rewards from Russia.”
