North Korea assures it sent troops to fight for Russia during war in Ukraine

For the first time, North Korea has acknowledged sending troops to fight against Ukraine on behalf of Russia.

Pyongyang's military said its troops assisted Russian forces in "completely liberating" the Kursk border region, citing an order from leader Kim Jong Un, in a report on state news agency KCNA.
Days before, Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov hailed the "heroism" of North Korean troops—the first time Moscow has openly admitted its role—and Pyongyang made its declaration.

Earlier, Western officials told the BBC that they thought at least 1,000 of the 11,000 men that North Korea had sent had been killed over the course of three months.

 

Ukraine disputes Gerasimov's assertion that Moscow has retaken complete control of the country's western Kursk region.
The United States responded to the announcement by saying that North Korea must now take responsibility for extending the conflict.
Pyongyang sent thousands of troops to Kursk last year, according to long-standing reports from South Korean and Western intelligence.
According to KCNA, Pyongyang and Moscow agreed to a mutual defence contract when they decided to send soldiers.

 

Kim stated, as reported by KCNA, "They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honour of the motherland."
By demonstrating their "alliance and brotherhood" in Kursk, North Korea and Russia said that a "friendship proven by blood" would be a major factor in the expansion of their connection "in every way."
North Korea would once more back the Russian troops, it added.
KCNA did not specify whether the North Korean troops would be allowed to return home or what would happen to them once their duty in Kursk was over.
In October, as Kim and Putin's bilateral ties became closer, reports surfaced that North Korean troops had been sent to fight for Russia.

 

Among other things, Kim and Russian leader Vladimir Putin signed an agreement pledging to help one another in the event that any nation was facing "aggression."
According to military analysts, the North Korean soldiers, who are purportedly from a "elite" squad known as the Storm Corps, are ill-equipped to handle the demands of contemporary combat.

 

"These are barely trained troops led by Russian officers who they don't understand," former British Army tank commander, Col Hamish de Bretton-Gordon had said earlier this year.

Despite this, Ukraine's top military commander Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi had earlier also warned that North Korean soldiers were posing a significant problem for Ukrainian fighters on the front line.

"They are numerous. An additional 11,000-12,000 highly motivated and well-prepared soldiers who are conducting offensive actions. They operate based on Soviet tactics. They rely on their numbers," the general told Ukraine's TSN Tyzhden news programme.