North Korea to boost Russia's war efforts with fresh troop deployments

Russia's President Vladimir Putin meets with Iranian Foreign Minister at the Kremlin in Moscow on June 23, 2025. [AFP]

North Korea will send more troops to Russia to assist in its war against Ukraine, possibly as early as July, a South Korean lawmaker said Thursday, citing information from Seoul's spy agency.

The confirmation comes just a week after Sergei Shoigu, head of Russia's Security Council, said North Korea would send military builders and sappers to help restore Russia's Kursk region during his visit to Pyongyang.

"North Korea is continuing to send troops and supply weapons to Russia, and we see its support has played a significant role in Moscow's efforts to retake Kursk," lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun told reporters after a briefing from the spy agency.

"After dispatching 11,000 personnel in October last year, Russia has already announced a second deployment of 4,000 troops, and a further 6,000 construction troops to assist in rebuilding Kursk," said Lee.

According to the National Intelligence Service's assessments, the additional deployment "could take place as early as July or August".

Evidence for this is that, during previous deployments, Shoigu visited Pyongyang roughly a month in advance, said Lee, along with "recent reports that North Korea has begun selecting personnel for dispatch, as indicators that preparations are already underway."

North Korea has become one of Russia's main allies during its more than three-year-long Ukraine offensive, sending thousands of troops and container loads of weapons to help the Kremlin oust Ukrainian forces from Kursk.

"North Korea is believed to have provided Russia with an estimated several million artillery shells, along with missiles and long-range rocket systems, delivered by ship and military aircraft," added Lee.

Russia and North Korea signed a military deal last year, including a mutual defence clause, during a rare visit by Russian leader Vladimir Putin to the nuclear-armed North.

Around 600 North Korean soldiers have been killed and thousands more wounded fighting for Russia, according to Lee, citing the South Korean intelligence service.

Pyongyang in April confirmed for the first time that it had deployed troops to support Russia's war in Ukraine -- and admitted that its troops had been killed in combat.

North Korean state media said leader Kim Jong Un had confirmed plans for further cooperation but did not provide details.