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North Korea confirmed for the first time Monday that its troops were fighting alongside Russia in its war against Ukraine, saying they helped Moscow take back control of its Ukraine-controlled Kursk region.
U.S., South Korean and Ukrainian officials have said North Korea sent as many as 12,000 troops to Russia last fall to fight in Kursk, which Ukrainian forces seized in a surprise incursion last August. North Korea had not confirmed or denied those reports until now.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the troops’ deployment under a mutual defense pact that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed in June 2024, North Korea’s Central Military Commission said in a statement that was carried by state-run news agency KCNA. The treaty includes a pledge of mutual defense if either country is attacked.
The statement said the operation to regain control of Kursk had been “victoriously concluded” and that it was “an honor to have an alliance with such a powerful state as the Russian Federation.”
“They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honor of the motherland,” Kim was quoted as saying.
The North Korean report came two days after Russia said it had recaptured Kursk with the help of North Korean soldiers, which was also its first confirmation of their presence in the conflict. Ukraine denied that Kursk had been retaken, saying its defensive operations are continuing in some areas.
In a statement on Monday, Putin said North Korea “acted on a sense of solidarity, justice and genuine comradeship.”
“We highly appreciate this and are sincerely grateful personally” to Kim, his leadership team and the people of North Korea, Putin said.
If Russia is confirmed to have retaken Kursk, it would be a blow to Ukraine amid U.S.-led efforts to negotiate an end to the war, which is now in its fourth year. On Saturday, President Donald Trump questioned whether Putin — who last week launched one of the worst attacks on Ukraine’s major cities since the war began — was willing to end the war.
In exchange for providing Russia with reinforcements, North Korea gains valuable experience for its military, which has not been deployed overseas since the Vietnam War. While North Korean soldiers are fiercely loyal to Kim, experts say their limited exposure to modern warfare leaves them vulnerable on the battlefield, especially against drones.
About 4,000 of the North Korean soldiers have been killed or injured, according to South Korean officials. They said last month that North Korea had sent an additional 3,000 troops to aid Russia’s war effort since the start of this year.
The North Korean statement did not say how many of its troops were sent to Russia in total or how many casualties there have been.
Kim said a monument to their “battle feats” would be erected in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, and that flowers would be placed “before the tombstones of the fallen soldiers.” He also said measures should be taken to “preferentially treat and take care of the families of the brave soldiers who participated in the war.”
The South Korean Ministry of National Defense denounced the North Korean troop deployment and said that by officially announcing it the North had “effectively admitted to its criminal behavior.”
“Our military strongly urges North Korea to immediately cease its deceitful and inhumane actions that threaten international peace and force the sacrifice of its residents through illegal military dispatches,” the ministry said Monday.
The deployment of troops to Russia is just part of Kim’s efforts to expand the capabilities of his nuclear-armed military. On Friday, he unveiled a new naval destroyer at a ceremony at a military shipbuilding dock in the port of Nampo, KCNA reported Saturday, saying the 5,000-ton warship would enter service early next year.
The warship was built “within 400-odd days perfectly with our own strength and technology” and is equipped with the “most powerful weapons,” the report quoted a secretary in Kim’s party as saying.
