SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told a visiting top Russian official that his country will “unconditionally support” Russia’s war against Ukraine, the North’s state media reported Thursday, the latest sign of expanding cooperation between the two nations. In April, the two countries officially confirmed North Korean troops’ deployment to Russia for the first time, saying that soldiers of the two countries were fighting alongside each other to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region. At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked North Korea’s participation in the war and promised not to forget their sacrifices. In a meeting with Russian security council secretary Sergei Shoigu in Pyongyang on Wednesday, Kim affirmed that North Korea will “unconditionally support the stand of Russia and its foreign policies in all the crucial international political issues including the Ukrainian issue,” the official Korean Central News Agency said. The two discussed how to solidify strategic partnership between North Korea and Russia and reached a consensus on the Ukraine issue and other unspecified international situations, KCNA said. It didn’t elaborate. Russia’s state Tass news agency, citing the Russian security council’s press service, reported that Shoigu and Kim also discussed prospects for rebuilding the Kursk region and outlined steps to commemorate the contribution made by North Korean soldiers. Russia claimed in April 2025 that it had fully reclaimed the Kursk region, though Ukraine insists it still has troops present there. Ukraine’s top army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi reiterated Saturday that Ukrainian forces were still holding territory in Russia’s Kursk region. Shoigu last visited North Korea in March for a meeting with Kim. North Korea and Russia haven’t said how many North Korean troops are in Russia. But US, South Korean and Ukraine intelligence officials earlier said North Korea dispatched 10,000-12,000 troops to Russia last fall in its first participation in a major armed conflict since the 1950-53 Korean War. South Korean authorities recently said North Korea sent around 3,000 additional troops to Russia earlier this year. North Korea has been supplying a vast amount of conventional weapons to Russia as well. South Korean, US and their partners believe Russia has provided economic and military assistance to North Korea in return. They worry Russia might also transfer sophisticated technologies to help North Korea enhance its nuclear weapons program targeting its rivals.
