North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his country's full support for Russia's war against Ukraine during a meeting with Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu in Pyongyang, North Korean state news agency KCNA reported on June 5.
Kim reportedly told Shoigu that North Korea "unconditionally supports the stand of Russia and its foreign policies." He also emphasized Pyongyang's continued commitment to the 2024 Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement signed with Moscow.
That treaty, signed by Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 19, 2024, commits both countries to provide assistance if either is attacked. Kim previously described the pact as having a “peaceful and defensive nature,” framing it as a formal security guarantee between the longtime partners.
Shoigu, on his second visit to Pyongyang since being appointed secretary of the Russian Security Council, reportedly discussed battlefield developments in Russia's Kursk Oblast, including the role of North Korean soldiers deployed in the region.
According to the Russian Security Council's official readout, the two sides discussed "perpetuating the memory of the feat of Korean soldiers."
Officials estimate that up to 12,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia's Kursk Oblast since last fall to counter Ukraine's cross-border incursion launched in August 2024.
President Volodymyr Zelensky previously reported that North Korean forces fighting for Russia had suffered 4,000 casualties, with two-thirds of the losses being soldiers killed.
Shoigu, who served as Russia's defense minister until his dismissal in May 2024, now oversees national security matters as secretary of the Russian Security Council.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Shoigu on June 25, 2024, for his role in leading Russia's war effort.
Olena Goncharova
(Updated: )
