Overview

• Sergei Shoigu’s June 17 visit to Pyongyang under Vladimir Putin’s special instructions reaffirmed last year’s Comprehensive Strategic Partnership commitments.
• Kim Jong Un agreed to deploy 6,000 military personnel—1,000 sappers to clear mines and 5,000 construction workers to restore infrastructure—in the war-damaged Kursk region.
• Moscow and Pyongyang also committed to erect memorials in both countries honoring North Korean soldiers who died fighting in Kursk.
• Washington and Seoul have voiced grave concern that the deployment may violate UN Security Council resolutions banning North Korean overseas labor.
• North Korea has already contributed combat troops and ammunition to Russia’s war effort, and analysts warn that the partnership could lead to technology transfers bolstering Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs.