Kim Jong Un Reaffirms North Korea’s Support for Russia in Ukraine War

Kim Jong Un has turned North Korea’s support for Russia into an open wartime commitment, telling Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov in Pyongyang that his country would continue to back Moscow’s policies. The meeting, held alongside a memorial ceremony for North Korean soldiers killed fighting in Russia’s Kursk region, underscored how far the relationship has moved beyond diplomacy and into direct military coordination.

The symbolism was deliberate. Belousov was in Pyongyang for a ceremony that also marked the opening of a memorial museum or complex honoring North Korean servicemen. Russia’s State Duma speaker, Vyacheslav Volodin, led another delegation to the North Korean capital, and the Russian side publicly thanked Kim and North Korean troops for helping recapture the Kursk region, where Ukraine launched a surprise incursion in 2024.

The battlefield role is already substantial. North Korea reportedly sent an estimated 14,000 troops to fight with Russian forces in Kursk after the two countries agreed their mutual defense pact. South Korean, Ukrainian and Western officials believe more than 6,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed in the fighting. Britain’s Ministry of Defence assessed by June 2025 that over 6,000 North Korean troops had been killed or injured in Kursk, more than half of the estimated 11,000 initially deployed there. South Korean reporting in April 2026 also said Pyongyang was planning a burial ceremony for troops killed overseas.

The broader strategic message is clear: the North Korea-Russia axis is hardening into a wartime partnership with military, diplomatic and economic value for both sides. For Russia, North Korean troops provide manpower at a time when Moscow is still absorbing losses from the war it began in Ukraine in February 2022. The relationship also gives Vladimir Putin another layer of political cover as his government presses on under sanctions and international isolation.

For Pyongyang, the payoff is a stronger link to a powerful patron and a chance to present itself as a participant in a major conflict rather than a marginal spoiler. The two leaders signed the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in Pyongyang on June 18, 2024, and reporting on the pact says Article 4 commits each side to provide military and other assistance without delay if either faces armed invasion. That language has given the alliance a far more concrete edge than the usual declarations of friendship.

For Washington and Seoul, the danger is that a local war in Ukraine is now tied to a broader security alignment that reaches across Eurasia. North Korean forces are gaining combat experience, Russia is gaining ground troops, and both governments are showing they are willing to pay the political cost of making the partnership visible.