Moscow: North Korea on Monday confirmed for the first time that it has deployed troops to Russia to support Moscow's war against Ukraine under their mutual defense treaty, claiming the North's soldiers helped Russia regain control of Kursk.
According to Yonhap News Agency, 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. 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. The KCNA reported that the commission is convinced the "invincible" North Korea-Russia friendship, verified in the combat, "will greatly contribute to expanding and developing the future relations of friendship and cooperation" between the two nations.
The signing of the mutual defense treaty has closely aligned North Korea and Russia, with Moscow reportedly providing much-needed economic resources to North Korea in exchange for its troop contributions amid international sanctions that are gripping Pyongyang's economy. The North's confirmation of troop deployment came just two days after Russia acknowledged that North Korean soldiers had been fighting in its war with Ukraine.
Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, confirmed their combat participation during a videoconference with Putin on Saturday, recognizing the crucial role they played in "liberating" the Kursk region. Since more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers were dispatched to Russia in October, North Korea had remained silent on the issue, even as a large number of casualties were reported among its troops and two North Korean soldiers were captured alive by Ukrainian forces in January.
South Korea's military estimates that in January and February, North Korea sent an additional 3,000 soldiers to the Kursk region, who reportedly quickly adapted to combat and contributed to Russia's reclamation of Kursk.