North Korea’s public acknowledgement of its soldiers’ participation in the Ukraine war points to growing discontent among its wounded troops – and signals preparations for a Moscow summit between leader Kim Jong-un and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, analysts say.
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Until recently, neither Moscow nor Pyongyang had admitted to North Korea’s involvement in the conflict, despite mounting evidence. That changed on Saturday, when Russia credited North Korean forces with playing a critical role in the “liberation” of the Kursk region.
More than 10,000 North Korean soldiers are believed to have been dispatched to Russia since October. Despite reports of heavy casualties – and the capture of two North Korean soldiers by Ukrainian forces in January – Pyongyang had remained silent until now.
On Monday, North Korea said the deployment was carried out “by the order” of Kim Jong-un under the terms of a mutual defence treaty signed with Russia.
“The operations for liberating the Kursk area to repel the adventurous invasion of the Russian Federation by the Ukrainian authorities were victoriously concluded,” North Korea’s state-run news agency KCNA reported.
Putin expressed his gratitude to North Korea and Kim on Monday, saying in a statement released by the Kremlin that he would always honour “Korean heroes” who had fought for shared freedom with their Russian brothers in arms.
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Kim notably announced that a monument honouring the fallen soldiers would soon be erected in Pyongyang, with flowers laid at their tombs, in an acknowledgement of war casualties.