North Korea confirms troop involvement in Russia’s war against Ukraine

This was reported by North Korea’s state news agency KCNA.

According to the outlet, the deployment of North Korean troops to fight in Russia was based on the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty between North Korea and Russia.

"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 of the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea to combat sub-units of the armed forces of the Republic," the material dedicated to the "liberation of the Kursk area" says.

North Korea believes that the participation of its army in the war against Ukraine on Russian territory "fully conform to all the provisions and the spirit of the UN Charter and other international laws and the treaty on comprehensive strategic partnership between the DPRK and Russia and serve as a good example and excellent paradigm of the most faithful expression of action to implement them."

At the same time, Ukraine's government was described by North Korea's state agency as "vanguard and shock brigade of the imperialist powers," which, in August 2024, launched "vigorous surprise attack on the Russian mainland in August 2024 by enlisting tens of thousands of elite troops armed with the Western-made state-of-the-art weapons and other combat and technical equipment with a sinister intention to reverse the war situation, in which they were thrown into tailspin."

The outlet emphasized that the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea "highly appreciated the combat sub-units of the armed forces of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea" for their "heroic feats in the operations to repulse and frustrate the grave sovereignty infringement by the Ukrainian authorities, who invaded the territory of the Russian Federation." It also claimed that the operations to "liberate the Kursk region" had been "successfully completed." The article contains multiple references to the "heroism" of North Korean troops in the battles in the Kursk region, and assurances to the Russians of the "strong combat friendship" between North Korea and Russia.

Kim Jong Un assured that, in honor of the "heroism and bravery" of North Korean soldiers, a monument would be erected in the capital to commemorate their feats, and flowers would be laid at the graves of the fallen.

• The first confirmation of North Korea’s involvement in Russia’s war against Ukraine was obtained by Ukraine’s Security Service in January of this year, when the Defense Forces captured North Korean soldiers in the Kursk region.
• On April 26, the Russian General Staff officially confirmed for the first time the participation of North Korea’s army in the war against Ukraine. On the same day, Chief of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported to Vladimir Putin about the alleged "completion of the operation to liberate the Kursk region from the Ukrainian army."
• On April 27, the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces reported that operators of the 73rd Special Operations Center continue to carry out missions in the Kursk region successfully.