Key Points on North Korea – Russia Ties: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged “unconditional support” for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during a meeting this week in Pyongyang with Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu.
-This declaration formalizes an already intensifying military collaboration where North Korea has supplied Russia with large quantities of conventional weapons and deployed an estimated 13,000-15,000 troops to Russia’s Kursk border region to fight in Ukraine.
-This deepening alliance between the two sanctioned states raises significant international concern, particularly over the potential for Russia to transfer advanced military technology, possibly including nuclear-related assistance, to Pyongyang in exchange for its continued support.
North Korea Goes All-In On Ukraine War
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has offered “unconditional support” for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, North Korean state media reports. Pyongyang’s relationship with Moscow has been increasingly warmer in recent years as both face global sanctions.
Kim’s latest promise was made when he met with Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu in Pyongyang this Wednesday.
This latest declaration, reported by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), follows months of intensifying military collaboration between the two pariah states.
In a controversial development earlier this year, Russia and North Korea confirmed the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia’s Kursk border region — a dramatic escalation marking Pyongyang’s first military participation in a foreign conflict since the Korean War.
Moscow has publicly lauded North Korea’s contribution, with President Vladimir Putin personally thanking the soldiers for their sacrifices.
North Korea and Support for Ukraine War
Neither side has disclosed exact figures, but Western intelligence estimates suggest North Korea initially dispatched between 10,000 and 12,000 troops last autumn, with an additional 3,000 reportedly deployed earlier this year.
North Korea has also been supplying Russia with large quantities of conventional weapons, further entrenching the military relationship.
While Kim and Shoigu reportedly reached a “consensus” on the Ukraine conflict and other global issues during their talks, details remain scarce. Russian state media noted that discussions also touched on reconstruction efforts in the Kursk region and commemorations for fallen North Korean soldiers — a clear indication that the two countries view this partnership as a long-term one.
Ukraine, meanwhile, continues to dispute Russian claims of full control over Kursk. Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi recently reaffirmed that Ukrainian forces maintain a presence in the region, contradicting Moscow’s narrative of total victory.
Russia and North Korea’s deepening links continue to raise alarm bells in Washington D.C., Seoul, and their European allies. Some analysts claim Moscow may offer Pyongyang advanced military technology, risking peace in the region — especially if it supports the rogue state’s nuclear program.
A relationship that was previously cautious has ramped up into a convenient alliance. Putin and Kim are both becoming more isolated from the West, and may offer each other intense military and economic support. The longer-term impact of this partnership however, could prove to be much riskier.
About the Author:
Georgia Gilholy is a journalist based in the United Kingdom who has been published in Newsweek, The Times of Israel, and the Spectator. Gilholy writes about international politics, culture, and education.
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Swamplaw Yankee
June 9, 2025 at 5:28 am
If the reality is clear to op-ed writers, where are the brain centres of the Congress elites at?
Is this really a Han CCP Xi run show? The little name change seems to be a necessity for a slow processing Yankee MSM and Congress. The Han CCP runs the show and is the real opponent to the USA.
The Han CCP control of Canada seems unrecognized. Will 3T – the third Trudeau- just stonewall the MAGA elite for 18 months and then all is memory.
As 3T allows the Han CCP cells to enterfere in Canada, 3T allows Han CCP citizens to obtain pricey mortgages to buy multiple real estate prices across Canada. Home prices are pushed up and seniors are out in the cold as the Han get the mortgage funds first.
The percent of GNP for defense is so low. The USA MSM slept as the recent federal election made defence a non issue. 3T was honest and did not promise more for defense. In fact, the huge number of Ukrainian diaspora voters were given no hope for a meaningful contribution to the Ukrainian re-conquest war.
All Canadian defense spending will magically occur the day after the MAGA elite vanish from Congress. 3T so easily outplayed the MAGA elite and Trump that one must suspect that the DNI + the alphabet agencies have been penetrated by the Han CCP and Putin’s FSB.
That the POTUS can not even protect the USA from the Han CCP is a daily spectacle. Perhaps Chuck Vance is correct and Xi has bankrolled the Mexican cartels. Will the cartels attack? Who has access to the cartel strategies? The DNI? One wonders why the Mexicans are not buying 200 or 300 F-35 air frames? The Xi financed cartels can kick in for about 50 F-35’s. Or will Putin’s subs never shoot missiles into the USA over Mexico? As the cartels attack.
Putin receives billions for his re-conquest from the Han CCP Xi, et al, and the Ukraine receives a few pennies from Trump and 3T. The USA greenlighted the re-start of this re-conquest of Ukraine in 2014 and now in 2025 pretends national memory loss. Is there a lesson to be deduced? -30-