Seoul, South Korea – North Korea will send thousands of military construction workers and deminers to support reconstruction work in the Russian Kursk region, the highest Russian official said on Tuesday, the latest sign of expanding cooperation between these two nations.
North Korea has already supplied thousands of combat units and a huge number of conventional weapons to support the Russian war against Ukraine. In April, Pyongyang and Moscow said their soldiers fought together to reflect the Ukrainian entry into the Russian border region Kursk, although Ukraine insisted that there were still troops present.
Sergei Shoigu, who packed a one -day visit to Pyongyang, said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un decided to send 1,000 sappers to clean down in the Kursk area and 5,000 military building staff to restore the infrastructure there, according to the Russian state press agency.
Another Russian State Intelligence Agency, RIA Novosti, made a similar report.
“After expulsion of the attackers from Russian land, we agreed to continue our constructive cooperation, while the Korean Party provides assistance in the renewal of the Kursk region,” Shoigu said according to Rio Novosti. “It is a kind of fraternal help that the Korean people and their leader Kim Jong Un.”
Shoigu said that Moscow and Pyongyang agreed to the position of memorials in both countries in honor of North Korean soldiers who died in the Kursk region, according to TASS and RIA Novosti.
The Official Korean Central Intelligence Agency North Korea said on Wednesday that Kim had confirmed the content of North Korea’s cooperation with Russia with regard to the current situation, but did not mention the sending of military construction workers and deminers quoted by the Russian media.
Kcna quoted Kim as an expression of his determination to “always support and unconditionally” what he called Russian efforts to defend his sovereignty and territorial integrity. Kim had previously similar comments on the support of the Russian War with Ukraine.
KCNA also said that Kim and Shoigu approved some plans for the “passing of long heroic performances depicted” by North Korean soldiers in operations to liberate the Kursk area, which is an apparent reference to the construction of commemorative construction.
North Korea and Russia have never published how many North Korean troops were sent to Russia or how many of them were killed. According to South Korean, American and Ukrainian evaluations, about 15,000 North Korean soldiers were deployed to Russia. South Korea said in April in April that about 600 North Korean soldiers had died of Russian-Auine Battlefronts.
The deepening ties between North Korea and Russia have aroused fears between the US, South Korea and their partners that Russian President Vladimir Putin can, in return, to provide Kim much needed sophisticated technologies that can help develop his nuclear and missile programs.
Both countries, both in confrontations with the US and its allies, have been closely approaching each other. In 2024, Kim and Putin signed a landmark contract that requires each party to provide assistance if the other is attacked.
In about three months it was the third visit to Shoig in North Korea. In recent years, both countries have exchanged high -level visits, while Kim traveled to Russia in 2023 and Putin to North Korea in 2024. Many observers say Kim can soon visit Russia at another summit with Putin.
In his briefing with closed doors to legislators 30 April, the southern intelligence service of South Korea said that Russia has given missiles North Korea air defense, electronic equipment of war, drones and technology to launch a spy satellite. NIS said that, according to legislators who participated in briefing, Russia was also sent to Russia to Russia to Russia to Russia to Russia to Russia.
Katie Marie Davies reported from Manchester in England. Dasha Litvinova contributed to this report from Tallinn in Estonia. ___
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