North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said his country would continue to support Russia’s policies and he discussed the international political situation with Russia’s defence minister, state media KCNA reported on Monday.
A Russian delegation including Defence Minister Andrei Belousov attended a completion ceremony for a memorial honouring North Korean soldiers killed while fighting in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces staged an incursion in 2024, KCNA said.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022, and its troops are still fighting there, having occupied around a fifth of the country.
“The North Korean government would continue to fully support Russia’s policies of defending its sovereignty, territorial integrity and security interests,” Kim said, according to KCNA.
North Korea sent an estimated 14,000 troops to fight with Russian forces in Kursk after the two countries agreed a mutual defence pact. South Korean, Ukrainian and Western officials said more than 6,000 North Korean soldiers were killed in the fighting.
