Putin hails ‘brave’ North Korean troops, as Kim opens memorial for those killed in Ukraine war

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Russian President Vladimir Putin sent thanks to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for his support of Moscow’s war against Ukraine, as Pyongyang inaugurated a new museum dedicated to soldiers killed in overseas combat missions.

In a letter to Mr. Kim, published by North Korean state media Monday, Mr. Putin said when Ukrainian forces invaded and briefly seized parts of the Kursk region in mid-2024, in the first foreign incursion into Russia since the Second World War, “Pyongyang helped us resolutely without hesitation.”

“The Korean soldiers, fighting shoulder to shoulder with the Russian comrades-in-arms, displayed their extraordinary bravery and genuine devotion and glorified themselves with immortal honour,” he wrote. “Their unrivalled feats will remain forever in the hearts of all Russian citizens.”

On Sunday evening, a concert titled “Stars of the Motherland” was held for “the martyrs, the laudable sons of the glorious Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” at the new Memorial Museum of Combat Feats at the Overseas Military Operations, according to the state-run Voice of Korea, using the country’s official name.

Mr. Kim earlier oversaw a ceremony opening the museum and commemorating the “first anniversary of the conclusion of the operation to liberate Kursk,” accompanied by Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov and Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the Russian Duma.

Both Moscow and Pyongyang initially fiercely denied reports that North Korean troops were helping with Russia’s war effort, but this became harder to do as photos and video of North Korean soldiers in action spread online, and eventually Ukraine captured several North Koreans, who are still being held as prisoners of war.

In April, 2025, eight months after Ukraine’s initial incursion, North Korea confirmed it had sent troops to “annihilate and wipe out the Ukrainian neo-Nazi occupiers and liberate the Kursk area in co-operation with the Russian armed forces.”

South Korean intelligence agencies estimate some 15,000 soldiers were sent to Russia, of whom about 2,000 have died. While Ukrainian soldiers have said their North Korean opponents appear to be well-trained, possibly even special forces, there have been numerous reports of communications problems with their Russian allies and a lack of experience in frontline combat leading to high casualties.

North Korea confirms it sent troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine

In a speech Sunday, Mr. Kim said the spirits of dead North Korean soldiers will remain as “a symbol of the Korean people’s heroism” and support “a victorious march by the Korean and Russian people.” He praised the North Korean and Russian forces for thwarting what he called a U.S.-led Western “hegemonic plot and military adventurism” on the Russia-Ukraine front.

Beyond troops, North Korea has also provided much needed artillery shells and ballistic missiles for Russia’s war effort. In return, Moscow has provided vital economic support, including tourism, food and millions of barrels of oil, as well as advanced weapons technology and expertise, as Pyongyang seeks to upgrade its military capabilities.

This includes new nuclear-powered submarines, the first photos of which were published by state media in December. While Pyongyang has been more than capable of building advanced weapons despite stringent international sanctions, this latest achievement would likely not be possible without Russian assistance, Peter Roberts, a defence expert at the University of Exeter, told British lawmakers in February.

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“Previously, nuclear submarine operating knowledge was something you never shared,” Prof. Roberts said. “It was kept within a strictly confined group of people. These were the crown jewels of military knowledge.”

In March, Mr. Kim said North Korea’s status as a nuclear power was irreversible and pledged to expand Pyongyang’s “self-defensive nuclear deterrent.” The International Atomic Energy Agency recently warned North Korea is rapidly increasing production of enriched uranium, including at the Yongbyon nuclear site, which was supposed to be decommissioned after talks between Mr. Kim, U.S. President Donald Trump and then-South Korean president Moon Jae-in.

Those talks were the closest all sides ever got to a peace treaty officially ending the Korean War, which has remained a frozen conflict since 1953, and to the relative normalization of North Korea, something Pyongyang has long sought but the U.S. and other Western powers have said is impossible while Mr. Kim retains his nuclear arsenal.

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un promises ‘beautiful life’ for families of troops killed in Russia

Decades of sanctions have done little to rein in either North Korea’s nuclear program or its vast military, however, both of which are only growing stronger with Russian and Chinese support.

In an essay this month, Jung Pak, a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific, said, “North Korea today is ascendant in ways not even the most imaginative analyst could have predicted.”

“Kim, whose grip on power has never been stronger, has transformed himself from a global pariah into a global power player in record time,” she wrote. “In the past, Washington has been able to work with Beijing and Moscow, albeit to a limited extent, to restrain North Korea and prevent a military confrontation. But today, the North Korea challenge is both more formidable and more durable.”

With reports from The Associated Press