The newspaper based its report on photos published by North
Korean state media. The images show more than a dozen officers standing in Kim
Jong Un’s personal office as they were hailed as “heroes” for fighting
Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk Oblast.
At least two of the generals were personally greeted by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin during the May 9 Victory Day parade on in Moscow, the state media said. They had flown to Pyongyang for the country’s first award ceremony recognizing participation in an overseas military operation.
The Wall Street Journal added that North Korea’s leadership could redeploy commanders to Russia if needed, though their return comes after a recent decline in combat operations involving North Korean troops.
“Their return suggests that Russia is confident it can hold the Kursk region on its own,” said Michael Madden, a North Korea expert at the Stimson Center in Washington.
“At the same time, it allows the Kremlin to avoid making North Korea a sticking point in peace negotiations. The North Koreans shouldn’t be a point of contention at the negotiating table since they are operating on Russian soil.”
South Korean officials have maintained that North Korean forces have only seen combat on Russian territory, a detail both Russia and North Korea use to frame their military cooperation as consistent with a mutual defense pact.
In 2024, Pyongyang dispatched roughly 12,000 soldiers to support Russia’s war effort in Ukraine. Ukrainian military officials estimate that about 5,000 of those troops have been killed or wounded.