North Korea plans to send military construction workers and demins to Russia

Seoul, South Korea – North Korea Will send thousands of workers and soldiers to support reconstruction work in Russia Kursk REGION, a senior Russian official said on Tuesday, the last sign of enlargement of cooperation between nations.

North Korea has already provided thousands of combat troops and a large amount of conventional back weapons The Russia War against Ukraine. In April, Pyongyang and Moscow declared that their soldiers fought together to repel a Ukrainian foray into the Kursk border region in Russia, although Ukraine insisted that there were always present troops.

Conclude a day visit to PyongyangSecretary of the Russian Security Council Sergei Shoigu said the North Korean chief Kim Jong Une Jong U decided to send 1,000 sappers to erase the mines of the Kursk region and 5,000 military construction workers to restore infrastructure, according to the Russia State Agency, TASS.

Another Russian state news agency, Ria Novosti, has published a similar report.

“Following the expulsion of Russian soil invaders, we agreed to continue our constructive cooperation, the Korean team providing assistance in the restoration of the Kursk region,” said Shoigu, according to Ria Novosti. “It is a kind of fraternal aid sent by the Korean people and their leader, Kim Jong Un, in our country.”

Shoigu said Moscow and Pyongyang had agreed to erect commemorative monuments in the two countries in honor of deceased North Korean soldiers while fighting in the Kursk region, according to Tass and Ria Novosti.

The official Korean Corean Corean press agency of North Korea said on Wednesday that Kim had confirmed the content of North Korea cooperation with Russia with regard to the current situation of Kursk but did not mention the dispatch of army construction workers and the demine cited by the Russian media.

KCNA quoted Kim as expressing her determination to “invariably and unconditionally supporting” what he called Russian efforts to defend his sovereignty and territorial integrity. Kim previously made comments similar to the support of the Russian war against Ukraine.

KCNA also said that Kim and Shoigu had approved certain plans to “long transmit the heroic exploits displayed by” North Korean troops in operations to release the Kursk region, an apparent reference to the commemorative construction plan.

North Korea and Russia have never revealed how many North Korean troops have been sent to Russia or how many of them have been killed. But according to South Korean, American and Ukrainian assessments, around 15,000 North Korean soldiers were deployed in Russia. The South Korea espionage agency said in April 600 North Korean soldiers died On the battle fronts of Russia-Ukraine.

The in-depth links between North Korea and Russia have raised concerns among the United States, South Korea and their partners that Russian President Vladimir Putin can in return offer Kim very necessary sophisticated technologies which can help to advance its nuclear and missile programs.

The two countries, both confrontation with the United States and its allies, have grown strongly from each other in recent years. In 2024, Kim and Putin signed a historic defense treaty which requires that each side provide aid if the other is attacked.

It was Shoigu’s third visit to North Korea in about three months. The two countries have exchanged high -level visits in recent years, Kim going to Russia in 2023 and Putin in North Korea in 2024. Many observers say that Kim could soon visit Russia for another summit with Putin.

The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday that Russia from North Korean workers was a clear violation of UN sanctions, which oblige Member States not to issue a work permit in North Koreans.

The United States Department of State told the news agency Yonhap in South Korea that Russia’s continuing use of North Korean workers and soldiers was “deeply worrying” and that Pyongyang “now had Russia to provide it with desperately necessary funds in exchange for work and soldier for rental regimes.”

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has also expressed deep concern, saying that the progress of cooperation between Russia and North Korea threatens to compromise global security.

On Wednesday, South Korea, the United States and Japan stole fighter planes for trilateral air training off the southern island of South Korea in South South Korea as part of their efforts to strengthen security cooperation to deal with evolving nuclear threats from North Korea, according to South Korea Air Force.