UPDATED 28 April, 2025, 10:50 a.m. ET
TAIPEI, Taiwan – North Korea on Monday acknowledged for the first time that it deployed troops to Russia to support Moscow’s war against Ukraine, six months after reports of their presence first emerged.
Ukraine estimates as many as 14,000 North Korean soldiers, including 3,000 reinforcements to replace its losses, are in Russia to fight Ukrainian forces who occupied parts of Russia’s Kursk region last summer.
“The operations for liberating the Kursk area to repel the adventurous invasion of the Russian Federation by the Ukrainian authorities were victoriously concluded,” the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, reported, citing the country’s Central Military Commission.
Ukrainian officials insist that their operation in parts of Kursk is continuing.
The KCNA said 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.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited North Korea for talks with Kim in June last year when they announced the mutual defense treaty, agreeing to offer each other military assistance “without delay” if either were attacked. They also underscored their shared defiance of Western sanctions and expanded cooperation in various sectors.
Reports of the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia first surfaced in October. Even as evidence of their presence grew – including when North Korean soldiers were taken captive by Ukrainian forces in Kursk and interviewed – neither North Korea nor Russia acknowledged their presence.
North Korea has also supported the Russian war effort by supplying massive amounts of artillery ammunition, howitzers and short-range missile systems.
in March, South Korea’s military estimated that around 4,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed or wounded in the deployment.
KCNA cited Kim as describing the activities as “a sacred mission to further consolidate” friendship and solidarity with Russia and “defend the honor” of North Korea.
A monument praising their heroism and bravery will be erected soon in Pyongyang and flowers will be placed before the tombstones of the fallen soldiers to pray for their immortality, said Kim, acknowledging troops killed in combat.
Putin thanked North Korean troops for fighting against Ukrainian forces in Kursk.
In a statement released by the Kremlin on Monday morning, Putin hailed “heroism, high level of special training and dedication of the North Korean fighters, who, shoulder to shoulder with Russian fighters, defended our Motherland as their own.”
The South Korean government strongly condemned North Korea’s official acknowledgement of its troop deployment to Russia, calling it an “admission of criminal activity.”
“North Korea’s participation in the Ukraine war is a clear violation of the U.N. Charter and Security Council resolutions, constituting an illegal act. Their official acknowledgement amounts to admitting to a criminal act,” said Jeon Ha-gyu, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, at a regular briefing on Monday.
The North’s confirmation of the troop deployment came 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.
In response, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Ukraine’s army was still fighting in Russia’s Kursk despite Moscow claiming the “liberation” of its western region.
“Our military continues to perform tasks in the Kursk and Belgorod regions – we are maintaining our presence on Russian territory,” he said.
The U.S. State Department also called for North Korea to stop its troop deployment and for Moscow to end any support to Pyongyang.
“The deployment of North Korean soldiers to Russia must end. Third-party countries like North Korea bear responsibility for the war,” said the State Department in a statement on Sunday.
During his first term, U.S. President Donald Trump met Kim three times, but made no progress on persuading him to give up his nuclear and missile programs in exchange for relief on sanctions.
Since the start of his second term, he has expressed an interest in re-establishing contact with Kim, although no developments appear to be imminent.
U.S. online publication Axios reported on Sunday that the Trump administration has quietly been holding discussions and consulting outside experts as it considers options for potentially resuming dialogue with the North.
Axios cited an unnamed senior U.S. official as saying that U.S. agencies are assessing North Korea’s current position and exploring potential avenues for engagement.
Edited by Mike Firn and Stephen Wright.
Updated to add background.
