North Korea assures Russia of support in Ukraine

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui has reiterated Pyongyang’s solidarity with Russia following reports of North Korean troops supporting Russia in the war against Ukraine. “We will always stand firmly by our Russian comrades until Victory Day,” Choe said during a visit to Moscow on Friday. Her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov praised the “very close relations” between the military and security services of both countries.

“We have no doubt that the Russian army and people will achieve a great victory under the wise leadership of Honorable Russian President Vladimir Putin,” Choe said. She described the Russian offensive in Ukraine, which has lasted more than two years, as a “holy battle.”

The North Korean foreign minister also announced that her country would continue to develop its nuclear weapons arsenal. “The situation on the Korean peninsula could become explosive at any time,” she warned. Pyongyang is understood to be seeking Russian nuclear technology in exchange for military support.

Lavrov emphasized that close ties between the two countries’ armed forces could achieve “important security goals for our and your citizens.” The Russian Foreign Minister also thanked North Korea for its “principled stance” on the events in Ukraine.

According to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the US government assumes that 10,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to Russia so far. 8,000 of them have already been relocated to the Russian Kursk region on the border with Ukraine and could intervene in the fighting “in the coming days.” The USA and South Korea have called on North Korea to withdraw its soldiers. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also promised new military aid for Ukraine.

Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang have yet denied reports of the deployment of thousands of North Korean soldiers. Neither Lavrov nor Choe mentioned the issue in their statements.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the two ministers first met at Moscow’s Yaroslavsky train station before the talks continued at the Foreign Ministry. At the train station, Choe and Lavrov unveiled a plaque commemorating North Korea’s leader Kim Il Sung’s visit to the then Soviet Union in 1949.

During a visit to Pyongyang in the summer, Russian President Putin signed a partnership agreement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on closer cooperation between the two countries. Russia’s offensive in Ukraine has disrupted Moscow’s ties with the West. Instead, North Korea and Iran have emerged as Russia’s biggest supporters.

Both Tehran and Pyongyang are believed to be supplying Moscow with weapons. However, sending soldiers would mean a massive escalation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj accused his Western allies of inaction in this regard on Thursday and expressed surprise at China’s “silence”. Kiev called on Western partners to “remove all restrictions” on the range of weapons they supply following the “real escalation” with North Korea.