Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised North Korean troops deployed as part of the Ukraine war as "heroic" in a message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, North Korean state media has revealed Friday.
The timing of the letter's revelation is interesting, given that President Putin is currently in Anchorage, Alaska - hours away from meeting with President Donald Trump and the US delegation to talk all things Ukraine war and its resolution. Is this a bit of a troll move by Pyongyang?
The Putin letter also commemorated Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, with Putin recalling the joint efforts of Soviet and Korean forces during World War II.
He hailed those wartime bonds of "military friendship and mutual assistance" and compared them to today, where DPRK troops are deployed in support of Russian forces, reportedly in the Kursk region and possibly even within eastern Ukraine itself.
Reports stretching back to last year suggest over ten thousand North Korean troops are there, and possibly more cycling through.
In particular Putin highlighted the Korean troop sacrifice to secure the Kursk region as "heroic" and said the Russian people would always remember their bravery, according to the state-run KCNA news agency.
"This was fully proved by the heroic participation of the DPRK soldiers in liberating the territory of Kursk region from the Ukrainian occupationists," he said
The Russian leader also emphasized the two countries' work toward creating a stronger "multipolar global order".
According to more context via The Guardian:
About 600 North Korean soldiers have been killed and thousands more wounded fighting for Russia, Seoul has said. South Korea’s intelligence agency said in June that North Korea was potentially ready to send more troops to Russia.
The letter was delivered by the chair of Russia’s Duma – Vyacheslav Volodin – who met Kim during an official visit to Pyongyang on Thursday.
Volodin thanked Kim for “dispatching excellent soldiers to the Kursk liberation operations for driving out the Ukrainian aggressors”, according to KCNA.
Earlier this summer, in July, North Korea's state-run media aired footage showing leader Kim Jong-un mourning the deaths of North Korean soldiers said to be killed while fighting in Russia's war in Ukraine as part of allied forces.
The occasion for the memorial footage was the return of the soldiers' remains from Russia, though no details were given as to the number of the deceased being remembered. But the event was significant, offering high-level confirmation of troop deaths related to the Ukraine war.