North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un inspects a Korean People’s Army training base at an undisclosed location in North Korea, 6 March 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE/KCNA
Ukrainian soldiers engaged North Korean troops deployed to fight alongside the Russian military in Russia’s southwestern Kursk region for the first time on Monday, according to Ukrainian officials.
“The first military personnel from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have already come under fire in the Kursk region”, the head of Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko, wrote on Telegram on Monday.
Writing on X on Monday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that 11,000 North Korean troops had been deployed to the Kursk region, where the Russian military is currently attempting to drive out the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who established a foothold there following a surprise cross-border incursion into Russian territory in August.
“We see an increase in North Korean forces, but, unfortunately, we do not see an increase in response from our partners”, Zelensky said in his nightly address to the nation on Monday evening.
The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that a second “senior Ukrainian intelligence official” had confirmed the clashes, though it provided no further details.
Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday morning, South Korean Defence Ministry spokesperson Jeon Ha Kyou said that 10,000 North Korean troops were in Russia and that a “significant number” of them had been deployed to frontline areas including the Kursk region, but that Seoul had no information on whether they were already engaged in combat.
Reports of the first clashes involving North Korean troops came as Vladimir Putin held an unscheduled meeting at the Kremlin on Monday with North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, who conveyed dictator Kim Jong Un’s “sincere, warm, comradely greetings” to Putin.
On Sunday, South Korean lawmaker and Seoul’s former ambassador to Moscow Wi Sung Lac revealed details of the Russian aid given to Pyongyang in exchange for its support on the battlefield. According to Wi, Russia has provided up to 700,000 tonnes of rice to help alleviate food shortages in North Korea, as well as “advanced space technology” to assist Pyongyang’s planned launch of another military reconnaissance satellite.
Wi also alleged that North Korean soldiers fighting alongside the Russian military would receive $2,000 (€1,800) per month for their service — an astronomical sum in North Korea — though he added that the “sweetest part” of the deal for Pyongyang was the prospect of Russian military support in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula.
“North Korea is on record as having fought for Russia. If there ever is a war on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea can now expect Russia to come and help,” Wi concluded.
