North Korea will send thousands of workers and military personnel to Russia’s war-hit Kursk region in what Moscow describes as “fraternal assistance”, according to Russian state media reports.
Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu made the announcement on Wednesday, a day after meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang. He said the deployment would include a “division of builders, two military brigades [of] 5,000 people”, as well as 1,000 deminers to assist with reconstruction efforts in the western Russian region, which has seen intense fighting in recent months.
“This is a kind of fraternal assistance from the Korean people and leader Kim Jong Un to our country,” Shoigu was quoted as saying by TASS and AFP.
The revelation has sparked swift and sharp condemnation from South Korea and Japan, with officials in both countries accusing Russia and North Korea of violating international law. A South Korean foreign ministry spokesperson expressed “grave concerns” about what it called “continuing illegal cooperation” between the two nations.
Japan also voiced alarm, warning that such collaboration would exacerbate the Ukraine conflict and threaten regional security.
“We are seriously concerned about these developments as it will worsen the Ukrainian situation and affect the regional security environment surrounding Japan,” said Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi on Wednesday.
The controversial labour deployment comes amid mounting evidence of deepening military ties between the two authoritarian regimes. Reports in recent months have pointed to North Korean troops actively supporting Russian forces in Ukraine. Western officials told the BBC earlier this year that over 1,000 of the approximately 11,000 North Korean soldiers in Russia had been killed in just three months. South Korean intelligence now estimates the total number of North Korean casualties to be around 4,700, including 600 deaths.
Shoigu’s meeting with Kim also touched on broader “long-term plans”, according to North Korean state media, although details remain unclear. Analysts suggest that Pyongyang’s support for Russia may be rewarded with access to advanced Russian military technology.
The cooperation has drawn repeated criticism from the United States and South Korea, who describe the deployment of North Korean troops and workers as a breach of the UN Charter and Security Council resolutions. A 2017 UN resolution bans member states from accepting North Korean workers, who are believed to be a major source of foreign currency for Kim’s regime.
Despite these concerns, both nations have moved closer diplomatically and militarily. In November 2024, Moscow and Pyongyang signed a mutual defence treaty, pledging to support each other in the event of aggression. Kim hailed the agreement as marking “a new high level of alliance.”
The Kremlin has also claimed, earlier this year, that it had regained full control of the Kursk region—an assertion Ukraine strongly disputes.
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