Pyongyang: North Korea on Monday confirmed for the first time that it has deployed troops to support Russia in Moscow's war against Ukraine under their mutual defense treaty. The North's deployment was made by "the order" of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in accordance with Pyongyang's mutual defense treaty with Moscow, the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
According to Yonhap News Agency, citing the North's Central Military Commission, the KCNA reported the first confirmation of troop deployment to Russia, months after thousands of North Korean troops were sent to Russia for combat in the front-line region of Kursk. "The operations for liberating the Kursk area to repel the adventurous invasion of the Russian Federation by the Ukrainian authorities were victoriously concluded," the KCNA said, adding that the subunits of the national armed forces participated in the operations "according to the order of the country's head of state," Kim Jong-un.
After concluding that the situation met the conditions for invoking the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty with Russia, Kim "decided our armed forces' participation in the war (and) informed the Russian side of it," according to the KCNA. Kim signed the mutual treaty with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang in June last year, which commits the two nations to providing military aid to each other in the event of war.
The KCNA claimed the military activities by North Korean forces in Russia "fully conform" with the United Nations Charter, other international laws and the bilateral treaty, and "serves as a model example ... of the most faithful expression of action to implement them." It also quoted Kim as describing the activities as "a sacred mission to further consolidate" friendship and solidarity with Russia and "defend the honor" of North Korea. "They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honour of the motherland," he said.
Kim also said a monument praising their heroism and bravery will be erected soon in Pyongyang and flowers praying for immortality will be placed before the tombstones of the fallen soldiers, effectively acknowledging troops killed in combat.