North Korea will send 6,000 military personnel to Russia’s war-damaged Kursk region, including 1,000 sappers for demining operations and 5,000 construction specialists to rebuild critical infrastructure. The commitment followed high-level talks in Pyongyang between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu, who revealed the plan as part of "special instructions" from President Vladimir Putin.
Shoigu’s visit—his second meeting with Kim in two weeks—highlighted rapidly deepening ties between Moscow and Pyongyang. Kim welcomed Shoigu with military honors, noting their frequent meetings "show our relationship grows stronger daily." The collaboration stems from a June 2024 mutual defense pact, which Russia invoked when deploying North Korean troops to repel Ukraine’s August incursion into Kursk. British intelligence estimates over 6,000 North Korean casualties during those battles, though Pyongyang has not confirmed losses.
The reconstruction initiative coincides with renewed transport links: a direct Moscow-Pyongyang train resumed operations this month after a five-year hiatus, and Shoigu proposed restarting commercial flights suspended since the 1990s. Western nations condemned the partnership, with the U.S. and South Korea accusing North Korea of supplying ballistic missiles and millions of artillery shells to Russia—charges both nations deny. A Reuters investigation confirmed North Korean munitions reached Russian front lines via maritime and rail shipments earlier this year.
Kim praised Putin as his "dearest comrade," framing their alliance as resistance against Western "hostility." Shoigu conveyed an undisclosed message from Putin and discussed "security questions," including Ukraine and the Korean Peninsula. The two leaders also planned a Pyongyang memorial honoring North Korean troops who fought in Kursk—a symbolic gesture cementing their frontline cooperation.