US, South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence officials said that North Korea had sent between 10,000 and 12,000 soldiers to Russia last fall, during its first participation in a major armed conflict since the end of the Korean War (1950-1953). But North Korea only confirmed these troop deployments in Russia on Monday.
The North Korean announcement intervened two days after Russia said that its troops had completely resumed the Koursk region. Ukrainian officials have denied this assertion.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un decided to send combat troops to Russia as part of a mutual defense treaty signed by him and Russian president Vladimir Putin in June 2024, the North Korean central military commission said in a statement released by the state media.
This treaty, considered the most important defense agreement between the two countries since the end of the Cold War, requires that the two nations use all the means available to provide immediate military assistance in the event of an attack on one or the other.
The press release quotes Kim Jong-un, who said that the deployment was aimed at “destroying and eliminating Ukrainian neo-Nazis occupants and released the Koursk region in cooperation with the Russian armed forces”.
“Those who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honor of the fatherland,” said the North Korean head of state.
Kim Jong-Un said that a monument would soon be erected in Pyongyang to commemorate the military exploits of North Korea and that flowers would be placed in front of the graves of the soldiers who fell in battle.
The North Korean press release does not specify the number of soldiers finally sent by North Korea or the number of deaths. But in March, the South Korean army said that around 4,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed or injured on the Russian-Ukrainian fronts. The South Korean army also estimated at the time that North Korea had sent around 3,000 additional soldiers to Russia earlier this year.
North Korean soldiers are very disciplined and well trained, but the observers claim that they have become easy targets for drone and artillery attacks on the Russian-Ukrainian battlefields due to their lack of experience in combat and their ignorance of the field.
However, Ukrainian military officials and intelligence services believe that the North Koreans have acquired crucial experience in the battlefield and played a key role in Russian strategy aimed at submerging Ukraine by sending a large number of soldiers in the Battle of Koursk.
-“Act against humanity”
The South Korean Ministry of Unification urged North Korea on Monday to immediately withdraw its troops from Russia, saying that the support of North to the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia constitutes a serious provocation for international security.
Spokesperson Koo Byoungsam also described the deployment of North Korean troops of “act against humanity”, sacrificing young North Korean soldiers for the benefit of their government.
During a meeting at the Kremlin on Saturday, Valéry Guerassimov, chief of staff of the Russian armed forces, informed Vladimir Putin of the resumption of the Koursk region by Russia.
He also confirmed that the North Korean soldiers had fought alongside Russia to repel Ukrainian troops from the Koursk region and “showed great professionalism, soul, courage and heroism in combat”.
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The Ukrainian staff replied that its defensive operation in certain areas of Koursk continued.
If it was confirmed, the Russian victory at Koursk would deprive Ukraine a key lever in the negotiations carried out under the aegis of the United States to end the war which has lasted for more than three years, by exchanging its gains for part of the Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia.
In March, Kim Jong-un expressed his unwavering support for the war waged by Russia in Ukraine during a meeting with a senior Russian security official, Sergei Choïgou, in Pyongyang. According to the state media, Kim Jong-un and Choigou reaffirmed their commitment to respect the mutual defense treaty.
Russian Foreign Deputy Minister Andrei Roudenko, Russian media told that governments discussed a possible visit from Kim Jong-un to Moscow.
North Korea also provides a large amount of conventional weapons to Russia. South Korea, the United States and its partners fear that Russia will reward North Korea by transferring advanced armament technologies that are likely to considerably improve its nuclear weapons program. North Korea should also receive economic aid and other benefit from Russia.
