June 19, 2025
SEOUL – North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russia’s top security official Sergei Shoigu agreed to step up Pyongyang’s military support for Russia’s war in Ukraine during their second meeting in about two weeks, North Korean state media reported Wednesday.
However, the report made no mention of Shoigu’s separate disclosure that 5,000 military construction workers and 1,000 sappers would be sent to Russia’s war-torn Kursk region, where North Korean troops have already been deployed.
Shoigu, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s longtime confidant, made his third trip to Pyongyang this year on Tuesday to meet with Kim, following earlier visits on March 22 and June 4 — an unusually frequent series of visits, all of which included talks with the North Korean leader.
The meeting “discussed the items of immediate cooperation and long-term plans arising in implementing the important matters agreed by the heads of states of the two countries through the exchanges of personal letters for several weeks,” state-run Korean Central News Agency reported in its English-language dispatch.
Kim and Shoigu discussed and agreed on several ideas and plans to commemorate and pass down the “heroic feats displayed by soldiers of units of the Korean People’s Army” during the operations in the Kursk region, KCNA added.
“Proceeding from a correct understanding of the current situation in the special military operations and Kursk Region, Kim Jong-un confirmed the contents of the DPRK’s cooperation within the range of the treaty between the two countries, accepted the relevant plans and discussed in detail the necessary cooperation plans,” KCNA read.
The DPRK stands for the official name of North Korea, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Kim and Putin signed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty, which includes a mutual defense obligation, on June 19, 2024, during Putin’s visit to Pyongyang — his first since 2000.
The Russian Security Council on Tuesday said Shoigu arrived in Pyongyang on “special instructions” from Putin to hold talks with the North Korean leadership.
“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,” Shoigu was quoted by Russia’s state-run TASS as saying.
When asked about the discrepancies between North Korean and Russian media reports, the Unification Ministry assessed that “Russia’s disclosure suggests that there was a bilateral agreement on making the matter public externally.”
“The fact that Russia disclosed not only the existence of the troop dispatch but also its scale suggests that Pyongyang may have requested this disclosure in order to secure reciprocal benefits,” a ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“However, it is possible that North Korea refrained from mentioning any decision on additional troop deployments out of consideration for domestic public sentiment.”
Pyongyang first officially acknowledged its troop deployment this April, following around six months of silence.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in March that North Korea sent around 11,000 troops to Russia last year, with over 3,000 more deployed in early 2025. The UK’s Defense Intelligence estimated on Sunday that North Korean casualties have likely exceeded 6,000 in the Kursk region.
Doo Jin-ho, director of the Eurasia Research Center at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy, said Shoigu’s three visits to Pyongyang in just three months represented a rare display of urgency — highlighting the symbolic weight of the visits, given Shoigu’s role as Putin’s right-hand man and longest-serving ally.
“Moreover, the visits indicate that the power dynamic between North Korea and Russia is shifting,” Doo told The Korea Herald. “This underscores the extent to which Russia has come to rely on North Korea’s support, now taking concrete form through the deployment of 6,000 rank-and-file combat engineers and military construction personnel.”
Doo explained Russia seems to be bracing for a protracted war, signaling its intent to secure victory through endurance rather than placing hope in US-brokered ceasefire negotiations, which have stalled.
“In this equation, North Korea’s support is decisive,” Doo said. “Additional troop deployments mean a prolonged presence, signaling that North Korea’s level of involvement in Russia’s ‘special military operation’ is expanding.”
Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the government-funded Korea Institute for National Unification, also noted, “Russia appears to have determined that solidifying control over recaptured territories is essential to gaining the upper hand in future ceasefire negotiations.”
“Russia is therefore moving swiftly to advance additional troop deployments through Secretary Shoigu’s visit to North Korea,” Hong said.
Regarding what North Korea could gain in return for dispatching troops, Doo pointed out the most pressing issue is the launch of a reconnaissance satellite — something North Korea attempted four times between May 2023 and May 2024, with Pyongyang claiming a single success in November 2023.
“There are strong strategic incentives for North Korea to proceed with a satellite launch,” Doo said. “With the eighth Party Congress cycle concluding this year, Pyongyang is under mounting pressure to deliver on the objectives it pledged at the congress.”
Doo further explained that Russia could provide maintenance, repair and overhaul support to help North Korea accelerate the modernization of its aging naval and air force systems, with Rajin Port as a key hub for Russian-assisted upgrades.