The US State Department has expressed concern over the participation of North Korean soldiers in combat operations on the side of the Russian army, while Moscow has not ruled out the use of Korean soldiers in other areas of the Ukrainian front.
North Korean servicemen have completed their tasks in the Kursk region and are preparing to carry out new ones, Andrey Kartapolov, chairman of the State Duma’s Defence Committee, said. He did not rule out that Korean troops would take part in fighting on other sections of the Ukrainian front.
“This is the commander-in-chief’s decision. Whatever he decides, that’s how it will be, but I wouldn’t rule it out,” Kartapolov said on Tuesday.
The committee chairman spoke in favour of Korean military personnel participating in the Victory Day parade on May 9.
Earlier, Kartapolov said that by participating in the fighting in the Kursk region, North Korea had repaid its debt for the help provided by Soviet volunteers during the division of the peninsula in the 1940s.
On April 26, Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov highlighted the DPRK’s assistance in the actions against the Ukrainian army in the Kursk region. Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked the North Korean fighters, noting that they had acted in full compliance with international law and in accordance with the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty signed in June 2024.
Russia and the DPRK ratified a strategic partnership agreement in November 2024. Under the agreement, the parties undertake to provide mutual support in the event of an armed attack on one of them, not to conclude agreements with other countries that contradict the interests of one of them, and not to allow the use of their territories to undermine each other’s sovereignty.
Europe and the US reacted with dissatisfaction to the official statements by Moscow and Pyongyang on the participation of North Korean military personnel in the Ukrainian military conflict. The US State Department noted that the United States is “concerned about the DPRK’s involvement in the war. The DPRK’s military deployment in Russia and any support provided by the Russia in response must be stopped.”
Washington believes that Russia’s training of North Korean soldiers violates numerous UN Security Council resolutions that impose a broad ban on the provision or receipt of military training and assistance to or from Pyongyang. According to the State Department, North Korea and other countries “have contributed to the continuation” of the war and “bear responsibility for this.”
However, the Russian leader stressed that “Korean soldiers helped Russia repel the invasion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in full compliance with international law.” At the same time, he said “our Korean friends acted out of a sense of solidarity, justice and genuine comradeship.”
The participation of North Korean soldiers in the Ukrainian military conflict may affect the further course of negotiations between Russia, the US and Ukraine.
The acknowledgement of Korean military personnel’s participation in the Ukrainian military conflict coincided with Kim Jong Un’s participation in the May 9 events in Moscow and is linked to a serious change in the approach to negotiations with Washington on Ukraine. This change, a demonstration of strength on the part of Moscow, could only have happened with the consent of Kim Jong Un and Pyongyang’s willingness to support Russia in the further course of the military conflict, and in Russia’s negotiating position with the US.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump told reporters that the US supports channels of communication with North Korea. The head of state admitted that at some stage he may make contact with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with who he has “excellent relationship.”
