North Korea plans to send military construction workers and deminers to
Russia
[June 18, 2025]
By HYUNG-JIN KIM, KIM TONG-HYUNG and KATIE MARIE DAVIES
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea will send thousands of military
construction workers and deminers to support reconstruction work in
Russia’s Kursk region, a top Russian official said Tuesday, the latest
sign of expanding cooperation between the nations.
North Korea has already supplied thousands of combat troops and a vast
amount of conventional weapons to back Russia’s war against Ukraine. In
April, Pyongyang and Moscow said that their soldiers fought together to
repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region, though
Ukraine has insisted it still has troops present there.
Wrapping up a one-day visit to Pyongyang, Russian Security Council
Secretary Sergei Shoigu said that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
decided to send 1,000 sappers to clear mines in the Kursk region and
5,000 military construction workers to restore infrastructure there,
according to Russia's state news agency, Tass.
Another Russian state news agency, RIA Novosti, carried a similar
report.
“Following the expulsion of invaders from Russian soil, we’ve agreed to
continue our constructive cooperation, with the Korean side providing
assistance in the restoration of the Kursk region,” Shoigu said,
according to RIA Novosti. "This is a kind of brotherly aid being sent by
the Korean people and their leader, Kim Jong Un, to our country.”
Shoigu said that Moscow and Pyongyang agreed to erect memorials in both
countries in honor of North Korean soldiers who died while fighting in
the Kursk region, according to Tass and RIA Novosti.
Kim repeats full support of Russia's war efforts against Ukraine
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday that
Kim confirmed the contents of North Korea’s cooperation with Russia with
regard to Kursk’s current situation but didn't mention the dispatch of
army construction workers and deminers cited by Russian media.
KCNA quoted Kim as expressing his resolve to “invariably and
unconditionally support” what he called Russian efforts to defend its
sovereignty and territorial integrity. Kim has previously made similar
comments in support of Russia's war on Ukraine.
KCNA also said that Kim and Shoigu approved some plans for “conveying
long the heroic feats displayed by” North Korean troops in operations to
liberate the Kursk area, an apparent reference to the memorial
construction plan.
North Korea and Russia have never disclosed how many North Korean troops
have been sent to Russia or how many of them were killed. But according
to South Korean, U.S. and Ukraine assessments, about 15,000 North Korean
soldiers have been deployed to Russia. South Korea's spy agency said in
April that about 600 North Korean soldiers died on the Russia-Ukraine
battlefronts.
The deepening ties between North Korea and Russia have raised worries
among the U.S., South Korea and their partners that Russian President
Vladimir Putin may in return provide Kim with much-needed sophisticated
technologies that can help advance his nuclear and missile programs.
The two countries, both in confrontations with the U.S. and its allies,
have sharply grown closer to each other in recent years. In 2024, Kim
and Putin signed a landmark defense treaty that requires each side to
provide aid if the other is attacked.
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In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean
leader Kim Jong Un, front right, meets with Russian Security Council
Secretary Sergei Shoigu, left, at the headquarters of the ruling
Workers' Party in Pyongyang, North Korea, Tuesday, June 17, 2025.
Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event
depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government.
The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently
verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source
reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News
Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
It was Shoigu’s third visit to North Korea in about three months. The
two countries have exchanged high-level visits in past years, with Kim
travelling to Russia in 2023 and Putin to North Korea in 2024. Many
observers say Kim could soon visit Russia again for another summit with
Putin.
South Korea, U.S. and Japan react
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday expressed “grave concern”
over what it described as ongoing illicit cooperation between North
Korea and Russia.
The U.S. State Department told South Korea’s Yonhap news agency that
Russia’s continued use of North Korean workers and soldiers were “deeply
concerning” and stated that Pyongyang was “now relying on Russia to
provide it with desperately needed funds in exchange for labor and
soldier for hire schemes." Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba also
expressed deep concern, saying advancing cooperation between Russia and
North Korea threatens to jeopardize global security.
On Wednesday, South Korea, the U.S. and Japan flew fighter jets for a
trilateral aerial training off South Korea's southern Jeju island as
part of their efforts to boost security cooperation to cope with North
Korea's evolving nuclear threats, according to the South Korean air
force.
In South Korea, there are worries that the 2024 North Korea-Russia
defense treaty would lead to Russia intervening in a potential conflict
on the Korean Peninsula. Experts say North Korea's military would also
obtain valuable combat experiences from the Russia-Ukraine war.
South Korea, the U.S. and others have stated the ongoing North
Korean-Russia military cooperation involve elements that constitute
clear violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions, which ban any
weapons transfer involving North Korea and required member states not to
issue work permits to North Koreans.
In its closed-door briefing to lawmakers on April 30, South Korea’s
National Intelligence Service said that Russia had given North Korea air
defense missiles, electronic warfare equipment, drones and technology
for spy satellite launches. The NIS said that 15,000 North Korean
laborers have also been sent to Russia under bilateral industrial
cooperation programs, according to lawmakers who attended the briefing.
___
Katie Marie Davies reported from Manchester, England. Dasha Litvinova
contributed to this report from Tallinn, Estonia.
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