Russian media says North Korea to send military construction workers and deminers to Russia
Russian media says North Korea to send military construction workers and deminers to Russia
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea will send thousands of military construction workers and deminers to support reconstruction work in Russia’s Kursk region, Russian state media reported, another sign of expanding military partnership between the two nations.
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti cited top Russian security official Sergei Shoigu as saying that North Korea will dispatch 1,000 deminers as well as 5,000 military construction workers to the Kursk region. The agency said Shoigu spoke during a visit to Pyongyang for a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“Following the expulsion of invaders from Russian soil, we’ve agreed to continue our constructive cooperation, with the Korean side providing assistance in the restoration of the Kursk region,” Shoigu said, according to RIA Novosti.
North Korea has already sent thousands of troops and conventional weapons to support Russia’s war against Ukraine. Washington and Seoul have said North Korea may seek Russian technology transfers that could enhance its nuclear weapons program.
During a visit to Pyongyang earlier this month, Shoigu and Kim Jong Un had discussed rebuilding the Kursk region, according to Russian state media.
Russia’s Tass news agency earlier reported Shoigu arrived in the North Korean capital on Tuesday on an unspecified “special” mission from Putin and was expected to meet with Kim. North Korean state media didn’t immediately confirm the visit.
In April, Pyongyang and Moscow officially confirmed the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia for the first time, saying that soldiers of the two countries were fighting alongside each other to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region. Putin thanked North Korea at the time for its participation in the war and promised not to forget their sacrifices.
Also in April, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers that North Korea suffered 4,700 casualties, including 600 deaths, on the Russia-Ukraine battlefronts. The National Intelligence Service said that 15,000 North Korean laborers have also been sent to Russia under bilateral industrial cooperation programs, according to lawmakers who attended the NIS’ closed-door briefing.
