Russia-North Korea: establishment of ‘long-term’ bilateral military cooperation

Kinshasa, April 26^th, 2026 (CPA).- The Russian Minister in charge of Defence has met with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Sunday in Pyongyang, and the two have agreed to establish a “long-term” bilateral military cooperation, international media have reported. “We have agreed with the Ministry in charge of Defence (of North Korea, Ed.) that our military cooperation should be on a sustainable, long-term basis,” has declared Andrei Belousov, the Russian Minister in charge of Defence. “This year promises to be at least as fruitful in terms of bilateral contacts across numerous fields,” he has added. For his part, Vyacheslav Volodin, Speaker of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, has expressed his gratitude to Kim Jong-un, as well as to the Korean people, for their fraternal support in the liberation of Kursk, in western Russia. “The Korean soldiers have fought shoulder to shoulder with our soldiers and officers, liberating Russian soil from the Ukrainian Nazis,” has indicated Vyacheslav Volodin. In 2024, the two countries had already signed a military treaty obliging each State to provide military assistance ‘without delay’ in the event of an attack on the other. The North Korean soldiers apparently had orders to commit suicide rather than be taken prisoner in battle. Only two North Korean soldiers have been captured alive and are currently being held by the Ukrainian authorities. Both soldiers have expressed a wish to go to South Korea. North Korea has sent thousands of soldiers – along with missiles and ammunition – to support Russia in its war against Ukraine. They were deployed to the Kursk region in western Russia to repel the Ukrainian army, which had occupied the area for nearly a year, from August 2024 to spring 2025. South Korea estimates that around 2,000 North Koreans have been killed in this war. In return, according to experts, North Korea receives financial aid, military technology, as well as food and energy from Russia, enabling Pyongyang to circumvent the heavy international sanctions imposed on its banned nuclear programmes. The Russian delegation has arrived in Pyongyang to attend the opening ceremony of a memorial complex honouring those killed whilst supporting Moscow’s war effort against Ukraine.