North Korea confirmed Monday for the first time that it sent troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine, saying the deployment was meant to help Russia regain its Kursk region that Ukrainian forces seized in a surprise incursion last year.
U.S., South Korean and Ukraine intelligence officials have said North Korea dispatched about 10,000-12,000 troops to Russia last fall in its first participation in a major armed conflict since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. But North Korea hadn’t confirmed or denied its reported troop deployments to Russia until Monday.
The North Korean announcement came two days after Russia said its troops have fully reclaimed the Kursk region. Ukrainian officials denied the claim.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un decided to send combat troops to Russia under a mutual defense treaty signed by him and Russian President Vladimir Putin in June 2024, the North’s Central Military Commission said in a statement carried by state media. The treaty — considered the two countries’ biggest defense agreement since the end of the Cold War — requires both nations to use all available means to provide immediate military assistance if either is attacked.
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