North Korea confirms troop deployment to Russia for first time

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pose for a photo during a signing ceremony following bilateral talks in Pyongyang last June. | SPUTNIK / KREMLIN photo

by JESSE JOHNSON
April 28, 2025

North Korea confirmed for the first time that it has sent troops to Russia for the war against Ukraine, with the state-run Korean Central News Agency saying Monday that its forces had helped “liberate” Moscow’s Kursk region from Kyiv’s control.

The KCNA report said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had made the decision to invoke Moscow and Pyongyang’s 2024 defense treaty to send troops, calling the move “a sacred mission to further consolidate as firm as a rock the traditional friendship and solidarity between the two countries.”

North Korea’s top military body said operations had concluded, adding that the fighting had highlighted Pyongyang’s increasingly close ties with Moscow.