North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reaffirmed Pyongyang’s support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, pledging to assist Moscow in securing victory in its “sacred war,” state media reported on 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 state news agency KCNA.
The leader expressed his “conviction that the Russian army and people would undoubtedly win in this sacred and just war.”
The two sides discussed strengthening military ties, with Belousov indicating that Moscow was ready to sign a cooperation plan covering the period 2027-2031.
Kim Jong Un, Andrei Belousov, and Russian Duma President Vyacheslav Volodin also attended the inauguration of a memorial honoring North Korean soldiers killed in Ukraine.
The ceremony featured a concert, fireworks, and an air parade. The public was moved by representations of “bloody battles” and “hand-to-hand combat defying death and heroic and suicidal explosions chosen without hesitation by young soldiers,” according to KCNA.
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, food, and energy resources from Russia, allowing Pyongyang to bypass heavy international sanctions on its banned nuclear programs.
In 2024, the two countries signed a military pact obliging each state to provide “immediate” military assistance in case of an attack against the other.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung stated on Monday that it is “the destiny of both the South and the North to make the flowers of peace bloom.”
Lee pledged to act “proactively” to restore trust with Pyongyang.
“We hope that the North will trust the sincerity of our government and respond in the same manner,” he added.
