North Korea reportedly ratified a mutual defence treaty with Russia, which experts see as a step towards formalising their military cooperation amid concerns over thousands of Pyongyang’s troops training to join the Russian war in Ukraine.
The deal between North Korea and Russia signed in June calls to "immediately provide military and other assistance using all available means" if either side is in a state of war.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ratified the treaty as a decree on Monday, according to state media KCNA, adding that it takes effect when both sides exchange the ratification instruments.
Russia has already ratified the deal with both houses of the Russian parliament formalising the treaty which president Vladimir Putin later signed.
South Korea, the US, and Ukraine have said North Korea has sent at least 10,000 soldiers into Russia with reports suggesting many of them are already engaging in combat and some have even died.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday said that its military was battling “nearly 50,000-strong enemy group” in Kursk region where Kyiv had launched a surprise counteroffensive in the summer.
The Ukrainian president’s comments came after a New York Times report citing Ukrainian and US officials said that Russia could send a 50,000-strong contingent of North Korean and Russian troops to Kursk, without having to pull back soldiers from Ukraine’s east where the main battle is being fought.
Moscow and Pyongyang have responded vaguely to South Korean and Western claims of the North Korean troop deployment to Russia, emphasising that their military cooperation conforms with international law, without directly admitting the presence of the North’s forces in Russia.
If officially confirmed, it would mark the first time that North Korea, which has one of the world’s largest militaries with 1.2 million soldiers, has put boots on the ground in an international conflict since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
North Korea and Russia have rekindled their Soviet era ties since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Mr Kim has called the war Russia’s “sacred fight” and vowed to support its partner till the war ends.
