Tag: Ukraine

Really what is Russia going to do if South Korea sells arms to Ukraine? Do more threatening bomber flights around the peninsula like they are already doing?:

Russia’s deputy foreign minister has said Moscow will have to resort to “retaliatory measures” in the event South Korea provides lethal weapons to Ukraine, a Russian media report showed Saturday.

Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko made the remarks in an interview with Russia’s Tass news agency, as he mentioned an initiative to supply Ukraine with U.S. weapons, known as the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL).

“We have consistently conveyed to the South Korean side through various channels Russia’s principled position on the inadmissibility of the participation of South Korea in the direct and indirect supplies of lethal weapons to the Kiev regime, including as part of the PURL initiative,” Rudenko was quoted as saying.

“Otherwise, the bilateral relations between Russia and South Korea may be seriously affected, and we will be forced to resort to retaliatory measures. I hope that we won’t be forced to resort to such steps,” he said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

In year North Korea has had almost as many Soldiers killed as the U.S. did in 20 years of fighting in Afghanistan:

The spy agency estimated around 2,000 North Korean troops dispatched to Russia for combat in Ukraine were killed, lawmakers said Tuesday.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) shared the assessment during a closed-door briefing to the parliamentary intelligence committee, Reps. Park Sun-won and Lee Seong-kweun told reporters.

The NIS said Pyongyang is planning to additionally send some 6,000 soldiers to Russia in its third batch of troop deployment to aid Moscow’s war with Ukraine, while around 1,000 combat engineers have already arrived in Russia.

The existing troops are stationed in the “rear front as reserve forces,” the agency said, pointing to the possibility of a leadership change among the dispatched troops.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

For both Kim Jong-un and Putin, the North Korean troop deployment to fight against Ukraine in Russia’s Kursk province has to now be considered a success. The Ukrianians lost a valuable negotiating piece by losing the land they gained in Kursk provice. Additionally many inexpendable Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the Kursk operation fighting very expendable North Korean soldiers:

This image captured on Aug. 30, 2025, shows the music video of the song titled “Remember,” aired by the Korean Central Television, highlighting the contributions made by North Korean troops in the Russia-Ukraine war. (Yonhap)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un finalized his decision to deploy troops to support Russia in its war against Ukraine on Aug. 28 last year, shortly after Kyiv launched a surprise offensive into Kursk, a video released by the North’s state media showed Sunday.

The Korean Central Television recently released the music video of a song titled “Remember,” featuring North Korean soldiers who fought in Russia’s front-line region of Kursk.

The video’s background images include a document on a plan to “liberate” Kursk, ratified by Kim, as well as a scene of the leader in a white summer Mao suit presiding over a meeting with key military officials, including Pak Jong-chon, vice chairman of the ruling party’s Central Military Commission, and Ri Chang-ho, vice chief of the General Staff.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Hopefully Ukraine’s allies are keeping pace with Russia’s allies in the production of artillery rounds:

North Korea has continued to provide Russia with artillery shells to support its war against Ukraine, which amounts to more than 12 million rounds of 152 mm shells, according to South Korea’s military intelligence authorities Sunday.

North Korea is believed to have provided around 28,000 containers containing weapons and artillery shells to date, according to a report by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) submitted to a lawmaker of the main opposition party.

“If calculated with 152 mm single shells, (the number of supplied shells) are presumed to have reached more than 12 million,” the DIA under the defense ministry said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The North Korean media for the first time is showing that North Korean Soldiers have been killed in Ukraine:

North Korea’s state media aired Monday images of its leader Kim Jong-un mourning over his soldiers believed to have been killed in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

The images, released by Korean Central Television, showed Kim solemnly placing a North Korean flag over a coffin during a ceremony for the return of the remains of North Korean soldiers who were deployed and killed in Moscow’s war against Kyiv.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It appears that the North Koreans are doubling down on their military cooperation with Russia:

North Korea will send 5,000 military construction workers and 1,000 sappers to Russia’s Kursk region, Russian media reports said Tuesday, in another possible sign of their deepening military alignment as Moscow’s security chief visited Pyongyang for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The announcement came as Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu visited the North Korean capital on a special mission from Russian President Vladimir Putin and held talks with Kim earlier in the day, as the two countries prepare to mark the first anniversary of their mutual defense treaty. 

“Chairman of the State Affairs of the DPRK Kim Jong-un has decided to send 1,000 sappers to Russia to clear mines on Russian territory, as well as 5,000 military construction workers to restore infrastructure destroyed by the occupiers,” Tass quoted Shoigu as saying, referring to the North by the acronym of its official name.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I think it can be argued that North Korea’s involvement in the war with Ukraine has been highly successful for them. The Kim regime has received much needed monetary and military aid from Russia and their troops received much needed combat experience. Additionally when their troops do eventually return they can say they defeated the Ukrainians which they have actually largely done in Kursk province.

With the Ukrainians largely defeated in Kursk province now it will be interesting to see if the North Korean Soldiers are used anywhere else on the frontlines of this war:

A wounded soldier, suspected to be North Korean and captured by Ukrainian forces in Russia’s western Kursk region, is seen in this file photo posted on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s X account on Jan. 12, 2025. 

North Korea is estimated to have sustained more than 6,000 casualties in fighting against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region, more than half of the troops Pyongyang initially deployed, according to Britain’s defense ministry.

The ministry shared the assessment in an X post Sunday, two months after its earlier estimate of over 5,000 North Korean troop casualties in Russia’s western front-line region of Kursk in early April.

“The total casualties amount to more than half of the approximately 11,000 DPRK troops initially deployed to the Kursk region,” it said. “Significant DPRK casualty rates have almost certainly been sustained primarily through large, highly attritional dismounted assaults.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

As long as Russia continues to be North Korea’s major patron there is no reason for the Kim regime to pursue any negotations with the ROK and the U.S. That is unless the new Lee Jae-myung administration plans to make unilateral concessions for little to nothing in return from North Korea:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has vowed to “unconditionally” support Russia over the war against Ukraine and “responsibly” observe the articles of a mutual defense treaty signed between Pyongyang and Moscow, the North’s state media reported Thursday.

Kim made the remarks during his meeting with Russia’s Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu the previous day in Pyongyang, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Shoigu, Russia’s top security official, arrived in North Korea on Wednesday, amid deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, highlighted by the North’s troop dispatch to Russia to support the war against Ukraine.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.