Seoul [South Korea], April 28 North Korea on Monday, for the first time, confirmed it had sent troops to fight for Russia against Ukraine, and the "sacred mission" was aimed at strengthening friendship with Moscow.
The state news agency KCNA said, as per a report in Yonhap, the state media of South Korea, that Pyongyang's military claimed its soldiers helped Russian forces "completely liberate" the Kursk border region, according to an order given by the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
This admission comes days after Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov, in a video conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 26, praised the role that North Korean troops played in the liberation of the Kursk border region.
Putin has claimed that his country has regained control of Kursk, the border region where Ukraine launched a surprise offensive last year. Ukraine has denied the claim.
Russia's acknowledgement of North Korean troops comes almost a year after the US, South Korea, the UK, and Ukraine stated that North Korean troops were seen at the frontlines of the war.
"Kim Jong Un determined that the participation of our armed forces in the war was a sacred mission aimed at cementing the traditional friendship and solidarity between the two countries, guaranteeing the development and prosperity of both countries and protecting North Korea's honour," the KCNA reported citing the North's Central Military Commission.
Kim signed the mutual Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang in June 2024 , which commits the two nations to providing military aid to each other in the event of war.
According to the KCNA, Kim hailed North Korean troops who took part in the operation to liberate the Kursk Region as heroes who fought for justice.
He also said that a monument to the North Korean soldiers who participated in the operation will be erected soon in Pyongyang and flowers praying for immortality will be placed before the tombstones of the fallen soldiers, effectively acknowledging troops killed in combat.
Meanwhile, the US State Department said in a statement on Sunday evening that North Korea and other "third countries" had "perpetuated" Russia's war on Ukraine and that it must end, as should Moscow's support for Pyongyang, a report in the Al Jazeera said.