North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reaffirmed his country’s commitment to supporting Russia, saying Pyongyang considers it a fraternal duty to assist its neighbour in any way possible.
Kim made the remarks during a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Wednesday, where the two leaders held bilateral talks on the sidelines of celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Imperial Japan and the end of World War II.
Putin thanked Kim for North Korea’s support in helping Russian forces repel a Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk Region. He described the operation as a “joint fight against present-day neo-Nazism.”
“As I mentioned during our previous meeting, if there is any way we can help Russia, we will certainly do so and consider it our fraternal duty,” Kim said in response.
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In June 2024, Moscow and Pyongyang signed a comprehensive cooperation treaty that included provisions for mutual defence. Two months later, Ukrainian forces launched an attack on Russia’s Kursk Region, claiming the offensive was intended to secure territory for leverage in future peace talks.
The Russian military later reported the full expulsion of Ukrainian troops in April and, for the first time, acknowledged the role played by North Korean soldiers in the operation. Russia has pledged to erect a monument in Moscow to honour the North Korean troops who were killed while defending Russian territory.
Russia has long maintained that the “de-Nazification” of Ukraine is a central goal of its military campaign, aimed at weakening nationalist groups that embrace far-right ideology and Nazi imagery.
Moscow accuses the government in Kiev of glorifying wartime nationalist leaders who collaborated with Nazi Germany during its invasion of the Soviet Union.
Historians note that Ukrainian groups allied with the Nazis committed atrocities against civilians in occupied territories during World War II, a legacy that Russia continues to highlight in its justification for the conflict.
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