SEOUL, South Korea (AP) 鈥� North Korea confirmed Monday for the first time that it sent troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine.
U.S., South Korean and Ukraine intelligence officials have said North Korea dispatched about 10,000-12,000 last fall. But North Korea hadn鈥檛 confirmed or denied its reported troop deployments to Russia until Monday.
Leader Kim Jong Un decided to send combat troops to Russia under a mutual defense treaty, the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers鈥� Party said in a statement.
It cited Kim as saying the deployment was meant to 鈥渁nnihilate and wipe out the Ukrainian neo-Nazi occupiers and liberate the Kursk area in cooperation with the Russian armed forces.鈥�
鈥淭hey who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honor of the motherland,鈥� Kim said, according to the statement sent to state media.
In March, South Korea鈥檚 military said North Korea sent about 3,000 additional troops to Russia earlier this year, after its suffered heavy casualties. South Korea鈥檚 Joint Chiefs assessed that around 4,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed or wounded.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier put the , though U.S. estimates were lower at around 1,200.
In March, Kim expressed his during a meeting with a top Russian security official, in Pyongyang. State media reports said Kim and Shoigu reaffirmed their commitment to uphold the agreed upon last year. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko told Russian media the governments were discussing a potential visit by Kim to Moscow.
North Korea has been supplying a vast amount of to Russia as well. South Korea, the U.S. and their partners worry that Russia could reward North Korea by transferring high-tech that can sharply enhance its nuclear weapons program. North Korea is expected to receive economic and other from Russia as well.
are highly disciplined and well trained, but observers say they鈥檝e become easy targets for drone and artillery attacks on Russian-Ukraine battlefields due to their lack of combat experience and unfamiliarity with the terrain.
Still, Ukrainian military and intelligence officials have assessed that the and have been key to Russia鈥檚 strategy of overwhelming Ukraine by throwing large numbers of soldiers into
The Associated Press
