North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reaffirmed Pyongyang’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, pledging to assist Moscow in achieving victory in its “holy war,” state media reported Monday.
This declaration comes as a series of top Russian officials have visited Pyongyang in recent days, including Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, who met with Kim Jong Un on Sunday.
North Korea “will always fully support Russia’s policy to defend national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security interests,” Kim Jong Un told Belousov, according to the North Korean news agency KCNA.
The leader expressed his “conviction that the Russian army and people would undoubtedly win in this holy and just war.”
The two parties indicated they discussed strengthening military ties, with Belousov stating that Moscow was prepared to sign a cooperation plan covering the period 2027-2031.
Kim Jong Un, Andrei Belousov, and Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin also attended the inauguration of a memorial honoring North Korean soldiers killed in Ukraine.
The ceremony featured a concert, fireworks, and an aerial parade.
The public was moved by representations of “bloody battles” and “fierce hand-to-hand combat defying death and heroic, suicidal explosions chosen without hesitation by young soldiers,” KCNA reported.
North Korea has sent thousands of soldiers, as well as missiles and ammunition, to support Russia in its war against Ukraine.
South Korea estimates that about 2,000 North Koreans have been killed in this conflict.
In return, experts believe that North Korea receives financial aid, military technology, as well as food and energy resources from Russia, allowing Pyongyang to circumvent heavy international sanctions on its banned nuclear programs.
In 2024, the two countries signed a military pact obliging each state to provide military assistance “without delay” in case of an attack on the other.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said Monday that it is “the destiny of both the South and the North to make the flowers of peace bloom.”
Lee pledged to “proactively” work to rebuild trust with Pyongyang.
“We hope that the North will trust the sincerity of our government and respond in kind,” he added.
