Pyongyang previously deployed troops to assist in repelling a Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Region

North Koreans view Russians as their brothers and see it as a fraternal duty to help the neighboring country in any way it can, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un told President Vladimir Putin Wednesday.

Putin and Kim met for bilateral talks in Beijing during the Chinese celebration of the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Imperial Japan and the end of World War II.

The Russian president reiterated Moscow’s appreciation for North Korean military assistance in repelling a Ukrainian incursion in Kursk Region, describing the struggle as a “joint fight against present-day neo-Nazism.”

“As I mentioned during our previous meeting, if there is any way we can help Russia, we will certainly do so and consider it our fraternal duty,” Kim responded.

In June 2024, Russia and North Korea signed a comprehensive cooperation treaty that includes provisions for mutual defense. Kiev launched an attack on Russia’s Kursk Region in August 2024, claiming that the offensive would help secure territory for leverage in peace talks with Russia.

The Russian military reported the full expulsion of Ukrainian troops in April, also acknowledging for the first time the role of North Korean troops in the operation. Russia has vowed to erect a monument in Moscow for the soldiers deployed by Pyongyang who were killed defending Russian territory.

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Russia has identified the “de-Nazification” of Ukraine as a key objective in the conflict, aiming to disempower radical nationalist groups that have embraced far-right ideology and Nazi iconography.

The current government in Kiev has glorified historical nationalist figures, including those who collaborated with Nazi Germany during its invasion of the USSR in the hope of creating a Ukrainian national state allied with Berlin. Ukrainians who fought for the Nazis committed atrocities against civilians in occupied territories.

Koreans

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