North Korea will send thousands of construction workers and combat engineers to Russia to help rebuild war-damaged areas in the western Kursk region, a top Russian official announced on Tuesday, in the latest sign of deepening ties between Pyongyang and Moscow, the New York Times reported.
Sergei Shoigu, a close confidant of President Vladimir Putin and currently serving as the secretary of Russia’s Security Council, revealed the agreement after meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang. Shoigu said Kim had agreed to send 5,000 “military construction workers” and 1,000 sappers — combat engineers trained in demining and fortification tasks — to assist with post-conflict reconstruction in Kursk, a region that saw fierce fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces earlier this year.
Kursk holds symbolic value for Pyongyang
The Kursk region is a particularly significant location for this partnership. Russian officials claim that as many as 14,000 North Korean troops fought alongside Russian forces in the area over the winter and spring, culminating in Ukraine’s withdrawal from hundreds of square miles in April. Shoigu said the newly announced brigades would focus on rebuilding infrastructure, including roads, power lines, and buildings, after the area is cleared of mines.
“This is a kind of fraternal aid of the Korean people and the leader Kim Jong-un to our country and to the Kursk region in particular,” Shoigu said in remarks carried by Russian state media.
Defying UN sanctions, North Korean labour surge continues
The announcement comes amid growing concern over North Korea’s expanding role in supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine. South Korean intelligence reported earlier this year that roughly 15,000 North Korean labourers are already working in Russia, despite United Nations Security Council sanctions that prohibit such labour exports. In 2023, only 4,000 North Korean construction workers were believed to be in Russia.
These workers, who typically earn about $800 per month, are required to send a large portion of their wages back to the North Korean government — a critical source of foreign currency for the regime. Analysts believe Pyongyang receives not just money and fuel from Moscow in exchange for labour and military support, but also sensitive military technologies and weapons.
Flights, memorials and expanding bilateral ties
Shoigu also said the two countries are working on launching direct flights between Pyongyang and Moscow for the first time in over three decades. Additionally, Russian sculptors and architects in Shoigu’s delegation are reportedly collaborating with North Korean officials to design memorials that will commemorate North Korean troops killed in action in Kursk.
“The feat that Korean servicemen — now comrades in arms in the Kursk region — accomplished should of course be immortalized,” Shoigu said.
The agreement underscores the growing strategic and military alliance between the two authoritarian regimes. It also signals Pyongyang’s increasing willingness to play a visible and direct role in the Russia-Ukraine war, far beyond previous arms shipments or diplomatic statements.
While North Korean state media has yet to confirm the deployment, the presence of Kim Jong-un personally welcoming Shoigu and pledging further cooperation reflects Pyongyang’s full embrace of Moscow as a military partner — and its growing role in the global conflict reshaping international alignments.
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