In brief
In a significant move, North Korea has announced plans to send 5,000 construction workers, along with 1,000 combat engineers known as sappers, to Russia's Kursk region. This collaborative effort follows a meeting between Sergei K. Shoigu, a key official in Vladimir Putin's cabinet, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, emphasizing their deepening partnership. These workers will not only assist in rebuilding efforts but also take on demining tasks in areas where North Korean troops previously fought alongside Russians against Ukraine. With as many as 15,000 North Koreans already working in Russia, this cooperative relationship simultaneously addresses labor shortages in Russia while providing significant foreign currency to North Korea, despite existing U.N. sanctions.
North Korea will Send 5,000 Workers to Russia, Kremlin SaysThousands of North Korean laborers are already toiling in Russia. A new contingent is headed to the region where North Korean troops fought Ukraine.North Korea is sending thousands of construction workers to help rebuild a war-torn Russian border region, a Russian official said Tuesday, as the Kremlin boasted of new steps in the deepening partnership between the two countries. Sergei K. Shoigu, a close aide to President Vladimir V. Putin, met with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, in Pyongyang on Tuesday. It was his third visit to the North Korean capital since March. Afterward, he told reporters that Mr. Kim had agreed to send 5,000 construction workers and 1,000 sappers — combat engineers — to Russia’s Kursk region. That is where North Korean troops fought alongside Russian forces this past winter and spring to push Ukrainian soldiers out of several hundred square miles of Russian territory. The sappers, he said, will work on demining the region. There was no immediate confirmation in North Korean state media of the announcement by Mr. Shoigu, who was Russia’s defense minister until last year and now serves as the secretary of Mr. Putin’s Security Council. But in a video of Mr. Shoigu’s arrival distributed by Russian state media, Mr. Kim could be seen embracing the Russian visitor and telling him that “our cooperation is deepening.” Mr. Shoigu told Mr. Kim that he was back in Pyongyang — he last visited June 4 — at the direction of Mr. Putin. “There is an order from the president,” Mr. Shoigu said. “It must be carried out.” As many as 15,000 North Korean workers are already employed in Russia, South Korean intelligence officials said in April. Their labor violates U.N. Security Council sanctions but is of mutual benefit for both Moscow and Pyongyang. The North Korean government earns much-needed foreign currency by claiming much of the workers’ salaries, while Russia gets an infusion of help at a time when its labor force has been depleted by the war in Ukraine.
