Russia and North Korea agree on military cooperation

2026-04-27 09:16:45, Kosova & Bota CNA

Two senior Russian politicians visited North Korea over the weekend and inaugurated a memorial to North Korean troops who died fighting against Ukraine. They also discussed a new defense cooperation agreement that is expected to last until 2031.

Military, political and economic cooperation between the two countries has intensified in the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Pyongyang has offered military support to Moscow, particularly to push back Ukrainian forces from the Russian border region of Kursk.

In June 2024, Moscow and Pyongyang signed a mutual defense agreement, during a meeting between Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang.

Russian Defense Minister Appreciates New Military Agreement

Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov is visiting North Korea and will hold talks with Kim and other officials.

Belousov is also expected to hold meetings with North Korea's top leadership and senior military officials, as well as participate in "ceremony and commemorative activities" in the capital. In photos released by the Russian Defense Ministry, he is seen hugging Kim.

"We agreed with the DPRK Defense Ministry to establish our military cooperation on a stable and long-term basis ," Belousov said, using the initials of North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"We are ready to sign this year a plan for Russian-Korean military cooperation for the period 2027–2031," he said, in talks also attended by Defense Minister No Kwang.

Duma Speaker at memorial ceremony for North Korean soldiers

Andrei Belousov also awarded military decorations to North Korean soldiers who had fought against Ukrainian forces in the Russian border region of Kursk, part of which Ukraine had captured for several months during a counteroffensive.

North Korea has built a monument in Pyongyang for its soldiers killed in the war against Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin sent Kim Jong Un a telegram on the occasion of the inauguration, the Kremlin announced, thanking him and the soldiers for their efforts to help retake the Kursk region from Russia.

The chairman of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, attended the inauguration ceremony in the North Korean capital.

Details on the losses of North Korean troops fighting for Russia are scarce, but South Korean estimates suggest that as many as 2,000 may have been killed by September last year. Only two North Korean soldiers have been captured by Ukrainian forces. /DW