North Korean troops in the Ukraine war: What we know

This handout photograph taken on January 10, 2025 and released by the press service of the 24th Mechanized Brigade of Ukrainian Armed Forces on January 13, 2025 shows servicemen of engineer supply group of 24th Mechanized Brigade taking cover as smoke rising near Chasiv Yar town, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine. | Photo by Handout / 24th Mechanized Brigade of Ukrainian Armed Forces / AFP

KYIV, Ukraine — Months after Kyiv and Seoul began sounding the alarm over North Korea’s growing role in the Ukraine war, Kyiv now says Pyongyang’s troops are being killed and captured in battles with Ukrainian forces.

AFP looks at what we know about the role of North Korean troops in the war against Ukraine and the deepening alliance between Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un.

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What is happening?

Estimates vary but Seoul, Kyiv and Washington have all said that North Korea dispatched more than 10,000 troops last year to Russia to aid the Kremlin in its war against Ukraine.

Videos released by the Ukrainian army claim to show North Koreans in combat in the western Russian region of Kursk, which has been partially controlled by Ukrainian forces since August last year.

Ukraine sees holding territory there as vital for any future peace talks and there has been no evidence yet that Pyongyang’s troops have been sent to battle inside Ukraine.

South Korea says that 300 North Korean soldiers have been killed and 2,700 more have been wounded in battle since the deployments last year.

Images released by Kyiv show that the North Koreans have been issued with Russian military uniforms and identification documents, suggesting that Moscow is seeking to conceal the extent of the deployments.

What have Kyiv and Seoul said?

Both have been outspoken over the deployment and in turn deepened their security cooperation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last year urged Western allies to respond comprehensively and forcefully to the growing alliance between Moscow and Pyongyang.

“This war is becoming internationalised, extending beyond two countries,” he warned during a telephone call with South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol last year.

Yoon, who has since been impeached, vowed his country would “not stand idle” and described the North Korean deployment as “a provocation that threatens global security beyond the Korean Peninsula and Europe”.

South Korea has a long-standing policy of not providing weapons to countries in conflict but indicated that could change in light of Pyongyang’s troop deployments.

What is the Kremlin saying?

In short, very little. Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang have confirmed in public that North Korean troops are fighting in the Russia-Ukraine war.

The former Communist allies in November however formalised a landmark defence pact obligating “mutual assistance in case of aggression.”

When asked publicly about the deployment last year Putin did not deny it, and instead deflected the question to criticize the West’s support of Ukraine.

Russia, despite having a significantly larger army, is experiencing manpower shortages and is desperate to retake territory in Kursk while also advancing inside Ukraine.

In exchange for North Korean troops, the West fears Russia is offering technological support that could advance Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme.

The Kremlin on Monday again declined to comment after Kyiv said its troops had captured North Korean soldiers in Kursk.

“We do not know what is true there,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

What says the West, the rest?

US President Joe Biden, who is Ukraine’s most important military and political backer, described the North Korean deployment as “very dangerous.”

Biden is also understood to have lifted restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western long-range weapons inside Russian territory over the Kremlin’s decision.

China, which is closely aligned with both Russia and North Korea, has dismissed their growing mutual ties and called for a peaceful resolution, while offering Russia economic support since the beginning of the war.

NATO chief Mark Rutte last year warned that Russia was giving support to North Korea’s missile and nuclear programmes in exchange for Pyongyang sending troops.

“These developments could destabilize the Korean Peninsula and even threaten the United States,” he said last month.