Pyongyang Officially Acknowledges Troop Deployment to Support Russia in Kursk
In a stunning admission, both Russia and North Korea have confirmed that North Korean troops fought alongside Russian forces to liberate the Kursk region from Ukrainian control. The historic announcement marks the first time Pyongyang has acknowledged direct military involvement in Russia’s ongoing conflict with Ukraine, operating under orders from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), North Korean sub-units “regarded the territory of Russia as that of their own country,” demonstrating what Pyongyang called the “highest strategic level of militant friendship” between the two nations.
“The victorious end of the battle to liberate Russia’s Kursk region showed the firm alliance between North Korea and Russia,” KCNA reported, citing the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea.
A Monument to Commemorate North Korea’s “Battle Feats”
Kim Jong Un announced that a monument will soon be erected in Pyongyang to honor the soldiers who fought and died in the Kursk operation. Flowers will be laid at their tombstones, and families of participating soldiers will receive preferential treatment from the North Korean government.
Kim described the deployment as an effort to “annihilate and wipe out the Ukrainian neo-Nazi occupiers” and praised the North Korean soldiers for their contribution to the “liberation” of Russian land.
Russia’s Response: A Grateful Nation
Russian President Vladimir Putin personally paid tribute to the North Korean fighters, stating, “We will never forget the heroism of the Korean fighters.”
“We pay tribute to the courage and selflessness of the Korean warriors who stood side by side with the Russian Armed Forces to defend our homeland as if it were their own,” Putin declared.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova echoed the sentiment, emphasizing, “We will never forget our friends.”
The Treaty Behind the Alliance
The deepening military cooperation stems from the mutual defense treaty signed by Moscow and Pyongyang in June 2024. Under the terms of the agreement, both nations pledged immediate military assistance if either was attacked.
This is not the first significant contribution North Korea has made to Russia’s war efforts. North Korea has also been supplying Russia with large amounts of conventional weaponry, raising fears in the United States and South Korea that Moscow might reward Pyongyang with advanced military technologies, potentially accelerating North Korea’s nuclear weapons capabilities.
Strategic Implications
The direct military involvement of North Korean troops on European soil sends shockwaves through international relations. It signals not just a tightening alliance between Russia and North Korea but also a potentially dangerous reshaping of alliances as tensions between the West and the Russia-China-North Korea bloc continue to escalate.
The West now faces a grim reality: the Ukrainian battlefield is no longer just a regional conflict — it has become a global arena where alliances are tested, and new fault lines are drawn.
