North Korean leader Kim Jong Un acknowledged that an engineering regiment of North Korean troops cleared landmines in Russia's Kursk region during a 120-day mission that began in August and resulted in nine deaths, state media reported. KCNA images showed Kim embracing injured returnees and mourning the fallen while awarding posthumous honours. Analysts say Russia likely provided aid to Pyongyang in exchange for military support, and Pyongyang had earlier confirmed troop deployments and combat casualties in April.
North Korea Confirms Troops Cleared Mines in Russia’s Kursk Region; Nine Killed
A picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on December 13 showing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (at podium) attending a welcoming ceremony for the Korean People's Army's 528th Regiment of Engineers, which returned from an overseas deployment in Russia's Kursk region during Moscow's war with Ukraine (STR)(STR/KCNA VIA KNS/AFP)
North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, publicly acknowledged on Saturday that an engineering regiment of North Korean soldiers was deployed to Russia earlier this year to clear landmines in the Kursk region, state media reported. The rare admission details a perilous 120-day mission that began in August and resulted in nine deaths.
Mission, Casualties and Ceremony
According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim praised the returning regiment at a welcome ceremony in Pyongyang, saying the troops wrote "letters to their hometowns and villages at breaks of the mine-clearing hours." KCNA said the mission lasted 120 days and that nine members of the unit died during the deployment. Kim reportedly posthumously awarded state honours to the fallen.
"All of you, both officers and soldiers, displayed mass heroism, overcoming unimaginable mental and physical burdens almost every day," Kim told attendees, KCNA quoted.
KCNA images published from the ceremony showed Kim embracing returned soldiers, some visibly injured or seated in wheelchairs. Photographs also depicted him consoling relatives of the dead, kneeling before a portrait of a fallen soldier, and placing what appeared to be medals and flowers beside photographs of the deceased.
Context And International Response
South Korean and Western intelligence agencies have estimated that Pyongyang has dispatched thousands of personnel to support Russia in its nearly four-year campaign in Ukraine. Analysts say Moscow has provided North Korea with financial assistance, military technology, food and energy supplies in exchange for military support, allowing Pyongyang to partially sidestep international sanctions on its nuclear and missile programmes.
North Korea publicly confirmed in April that it had sent troops to support Russia and acknowledged that some soldiers had been killed in combat. The latest KCNA account offers further detail on at least one specific engineering mission but leaves many questions unanswered, including the full scale of deployments and the precise terms of cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang.
Why It Matters
The admission highlights an unusual, explicit confirmation from Pyongyang about overseas military operations and underscores the deepening ties between North Korea and Russia. The development has implications for sanctions enforcement, regional security, and international efforts to document combatant deployments and casualties in the Russia–Ukraine war.
