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Putin and Kim confirm for first time North Koreans fought for Russia in Ukraine war

Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un have confirmed for the first time that North Korea has sent troops to fight for Russia in the war with Ukraine, with both leaders describing the soldiers as “heroes”.

The acknowledgment comes amid claims by the Kremlin – contested by Ukraine – that North Korean forces helped recapture Russia’s Kursk region.

“The Russian people will never forget the heroism of the Korean special forces. We will always honour the Korean heroes who gave their lives for Russia and for our shared freedom, alongside their brothers-in-arms from the Russian Federation,” Putin said in a statement released 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 the firm militant friendship” between North Korea and Russia.

The acknowledgment follows months of silence over the deployment, which has been widely reported in western media. The Kremlin also said Russia was ready to provide assistance to North Korea “similar to the support offered to its soldiers in the Kursk region”.

Russia claimed last week that Ukrainian forces had been expelled from the last Russian village they had been holding. Kyiv has denied the claim, however, and said Ukrainian troops were also still operating in Belgorod, another Russian region bordering Ukraine.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Sunday that Ukraine’s army was still fighting in Kursk despite Moscow claiming the “liberation” of its western region.

“Our military continues to perform tasks in the Kursk and Belgorod regions – we are maintaining our presence on Russian territory,” he said in his evening address. In a statement earlier on Sunday, he conceded that the situation remained difficult in many areas, including Kursk.

The central military commission of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ party said Kim made the decision to deploy troops under the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty he signed with Putin in June 2024.

“Under the order of the head of state, the sub-units of the armed forces of the Republic regarded the territory of Russia as one of their country and proved the firm alliance between the two countries,” KCNA cited the commission as saying.

North Korea “regards it as an honour to have an alliance with such a powerful state as the Russian Federation”, KCNA added.

The agency quoted Kim as saying: “They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honour of the motherland.”

North Korea sent an estimated total of 14,000 troops, including 3,000 reinforcements, to replace those killed, injured or captured, Ukrainian officials have said. With no armoured vehicles or drone warfare experience, they took heavy casualties but adapted quickly, the officials added.

Russia confirmed on Saturday for the first time that North Korean soldiers had been fighting alongside Russians in Kursk. Neither Russia nor North Korea had previously either confirmed or denied the deployment.

The US state department said it was concerned by North Korea’s direct involvement in Russia’s war in Ukraine and that Pyongyang’s military deployment must end.

“We continue to be concerned by [North Korea’s] direct involvement in the war. [North Korea’s] military deployment to Russia and any support provided by the Russian Federation to [North Korea] in return must end,” a state department spokesperson said in an email, adding that third countries such as North Korea “bear responsibility” for the war.

Kim, whose material support for Putin could earn North Korea access to Russian satellite and military technology to boost its nuclear missile programme, said a monument would soon be built in the capital, Pyongyang, to honour his soldiers’ “battle feats”.

North Korea has also provided Russia with vast quantities of ammunition, artillery shells, ballistic missiles and other weapons. South Korea, the US and their partners worry that Russia could reward North Korea by transferring hi-tech weapons technologies for use in its nuclear weapons programme. North Korea is also expected to receive economic and other assistance from Russia.

Kim’s reference to “the tombstones of the fallen soldiers” is seen as public confirmation by the regime that North Korean troops had been killed in combat.

Zelenskyy has put the number of killed or wounded North Koreans at 4,000, though US estimates are lower, at about 1,200.

Kim said North Korea must “take important national measures to specially honour and care for the families of war veterans”.

Experts said Moscow and Pyongyang are likely to have agreed in advance to publicly disclose the deployment.

“The two countries agreed to disclose the deployment because they judged that the benefits of compensation for the troop deployment outweighed the potential damage to their international image,” Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told Agence France-Presse.

By promising state benefits to the deployed troops, North Korea could also “sufficiently ease internal backlash”, Yang said, adding that the move reflected Pyongyang’s growing confidence.

“North Korea likely aimed to showcase that victory was achieved thanks to their involvement, thereby securing greater rewards from Russia,” he added.

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