SEOUL, April 27 (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country will continue to support Russia's policies and he discussed the international political situation with Russia's defence minister, state media KCNA reported on Monday.
A Russian delegation including Defence Minister Andrei Belousov attended a completion ceremony for a memorial honouring North Korean soldiers killed while fighting in Russia's Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces staged an incursion in 2024, KCNA said. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022 and its troops are still fighting there, having occupied around a fifth of the country.
"The North Korean government would continue to fully support Russia's policies of defending its sovereignty, territorial integrity and security interests," Kim said, according to KCNA.
North Korea sent an estimated 14,000 troops to fight with Russian forces in Kursk after the two countries agreed a mutual defence pact. South Korean, Ukrainian and Western officials said more than 6,000 North Korean soldiers were killed in the fighting.
Kim also met with Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of Russia's parliament and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and reaffirmed the two countries' intention to deepen bilateral ties in line with their comprehensive strategic partnership treaty, KCNA said.
This was echoed in a letter from Putin on the occasion of the memorial's completion ceremony, which said "through joint efforts, Russia and North Korea would continue to strengthen their comprehensive strategic partnership," according to KCNA.
Kim has steadily moved to elevate the North Korean troops who fought for Russia in the Kursk region into symbols of sacrifice and loyalty, using state ceremonies and memorial projects to publicly honour their role.
"The souls of the fallen will live forever with the great honor they defended," Kim said in a handwritten message at the memorial on Sunday, according to KCNA.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Lincoln Feast.)
