The leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, has argued that the participation of North Korean military in the fighting between Russia and Ukraine was “justified”, after Pyongyang officially confirmed the sending of forces to the Kursk region to support Russian troops to repel the incursion launched by kyiv in August 2024.
“Our participation in the war was justified and (it is a decision) that belongs to our sovereign rights,” he said during a visit to the Russian embassy in Pyongyang on the occasion of the events for Victory Day, held on May 9 in memory of the victory against Nazi Germany in World War II.
Thus, he has argued that “the peoples of Korea and Russia have dedicated their blood and their lives to defend themselves and rely on the struggle for their common ideals for a century”, while recalled the firm in June 2024 together with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, of a strategic relations agreement between the two countries.
However, the British newspaper He has published that “reports of North Korean soldiers have emerged drinking excessively” and sowing chaos “terrorizing local Russian communities.” A message on a private chat channel from the Tuvan units pointed out a breakdown of the military discipline among the men of Kim Jong-un, added.
“Of course, they have reinforced our mobilization resources, but this has generated many more problems than planned, because the famous North Korea discipline has evaporated before the slightest freedom of action of Korean soldiers,” they wrote.
Pyongyang forces have suffered great losses since their deployment in Russia, according to South Korea. Around 4,000 North Korean soldiers of the original group died or were injured in combat, which forced Kim Jong-un sending another 3,000 reinforcements earlier this year.
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