North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has pledged his “invariable support” for Russia in a letter to President Vladimir Putin, describing Moscow’s ongoing war in Ukraine as “sacred”, state media reported Tuesday.
North Korea has emerged as a key ally of the Kremlin since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, sending troops to support Moscow’s war effort in exchange for economic benefits and military technology, analysts say.
South Korea’s spy agency estimated last year that around 2,000 North Korean troops had been killed in the war. A more recent assessment put the number of North Korean soldiers killed or wounded at around 6,000.
“Firmly convincing the victory of the Russian Federation in the present sacred war for defending the security interests of the country and international justice, I promise my invariable support to dear friend you and the fraternal Russian people,” Kim said in the letter, according to the official Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday.
“The will of mine and the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is firm without doubt to expand and deepen the joint work with the Russian Federation in a comprehensive way,” he said, referring to North Korea by its official name.
The letter comes amid speculation that Pyongyang may be preparing to send more troops to Russia to support its war effort against Ukraine.
Ukraine has also claimed that up to 50,000 North Korean troops are due to deploy to Russia, although Kyiv has provided no evidence or timeframe for such a deployment.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, while making the claim, asked South Korea to provide air defence systems to help protect against Russian missile attacks. Seoul has not responded to the request.