North Korea To Send Thousands Of Engineers To Russia To Reconstruct Kursk

North Korea will send thousands of engineers and military personnel to Russia’s Kursk Region to assist in demining operations and reconstruction efforts, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu said on Tuesday (June 17). He has been in Pyongyang to discuss investment and security issues with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.

North Korean troops fought alongside Russian forces to liberate Kursk Region from a cross-border Ukrainian incursion that lasted from August 2024 to April 2025. Shoigu described the new deployment as an extension of North Korea’s military support to Russia under the two countries’ strategic partnership treaty.

Shoigu said that “Kim Jong-un has made the decision to send to Russia 1,000 mine clearance specialists to sweep the Russian territory, and that an additional 5,000 military engineers will help rebuild infrastructure destroyed by the occupants.”

Weeks before the Kursk incursion, Russia and North Korea signed a strategic partnership treaty, which included provisions for mutual defence in the event of foreign aggression. President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the involvement of North Korean soldiers in repelling Ukrainian forces from Kursk Region and hailed them as “heroes” and “brothers-in-arms” alongside Russian troops when the joint defensive operation was over. Statues commemorating fallen North Korean soldiers will be erected in Kursk to honour their sacrifice.

Shoigu said he has been making regular visits to Pyongyang in recent months due to what he described as “the intensive pace of the implementation” of the partnership agreement. He noted that maintaining momentum “requires constant attention and course-correction on all levels.”

North Korea has a significant labour force it contracts to work overseas with friendly countries, with North Korean construction teams often seen in countries such as Mongolia, China, Central Asia and the Middle East. Overseas North Koreans operating overseas at any one time are estimated to number over 100,000 personnel. They live on-site in specially constructed dormitories with North Korean food and drink and other facilities provided for them, however, are rarely seen off the premises.