In a significant announcement on Monday, North Korea acknowledged for the first time that it has deployed troops to assist Russian forces in their ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The revelation came through a statement released by the state-controlled KCNA news agency.
The North Korean Central Military Commission asserted that its soldiers contributed to what they described as the “complete liberation” of the Kursk border region, a mission authorized by the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un. The statement emphasized that “Comrade Kim Jong Un decided on our armed forces’ participation in the war, informed the Russian side of it and, in accordance with agreement, issued an order … to annihilate and wipe out the Ukrainian neo-Nazi occupiers and liberate the Kursk area in cooperation with the Russian armed forces.”
“Comrade Kim Jong Un defined it [the mission] as a sacred mission for further consolidating as firm as a rock the traditional friendship and solidarity between the DPRK and Russia,”
the statement continued, highlighting the alliance between the two nations.
Putin expresses gratitude for North Korean support
Later that day, Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly expressed his appreciation to Kim Jong Un and the North Korean troops for their involvement, acknowledging their “solidarity” and “heroism.” He stated, “We highly appreciate this and are sincerely grateful, personally to the Chairman of the State Affairs Committee, Comrade Kim Jong-un, as well as to the entire leadership and the people of North Korea.”
This development follows closely behind remarks made by Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, who confirmed the participation of North Korean troops in the conflict and praised their valor. Gerasimov claimed that Russian forces have regained full control of the western Kursk region, a statement that has been met with skepticism from Kyiv, which contends that Moscow’s assertions “do not correspond to reality.”
Intelligence estimates on troop involvement
According to intelligence assessments from U.S., South Korean, and Ukrainian officials, North Korea is believed to have dispatched between 10,000 to 12,000 soldiers to Russia in the fall of the previous year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously indicated that around 4,000 North Korean servicemen have been killed or injured in the fighting, while U.S. officials have estimated casualties to be closer to 1,200.