Kim Jong Un Pledges 'Invariable Support' to Putin, Calls Russia's War 'Sacred'

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has pledged to "expand and deepen" cooperation with Russia and offered his "invariable support" to President Vladimir Putin, in a letter that state broadcaster KCNA disclosed on Tuesday. The message was framed as a reply to a congratulatory note Putin sent last week to mark the 78th anniversary of North Korea's founding.

What Kim Said

In the letter, Kim described the ongoing war in Ukraine as a "sacred war" being fought to defend Russia's national security interests and what he called international justice. He wrote that the two countries were consolidating their "faith and unity" and working together to protect peace, and promised that Pyongyang would broaden its cooperation with Moscow "in a comprehensive manner." Kim also sent a separate reply to Chinese President Xi Jinping over the weekend, pledging to strengthen the two countries' "traditional friendship" and jointly advance their shared political goals, underlining how the three capitals continue to exchange carefully choreographed diplomatic signals even as Western sanctions pressure remains in place.

A Deepening Military Relationship

The exchange comes against the backdrop of a military partnership that has grown steadily since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. North Korea has shipped large volumes of munitions to Russia and, according to South Korea's National Intelligence Service, deployed roughly 15,000 troops to support Russian operations in the Kursk region, with an estimated 2,000 of those soldiers killed. In exchange, analysts believe Pyongyang has received financial support and advanced military technology, pointing to North Korea's recently commissioned 5,000-tonne destroyer as a possible beneficiary of Russian know-how.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned last month that North Korea was preparing to send a further 30,000 to 50,000 personnel to the front, cautioning that the battlefield experience its troops were gaining could pose a wider threat to the Asia-Pacific region once they return home. South Korea's military has since said it sees no signs of an imminent new deployment, though it believes Pyongyang continues to prepare for one.

Why It Matters Beyond the Region

For investors and policymakers tracking global risk, the letter is less a single event than a data point in a broader alignment between Russia, North Korea and China that has hardened over the past three years. Continued North Korean military support helps sustain Russia's war effort, which in turn keeps Western sanctions regimes, European energy policy and global defence spending elevated, all of which feed into the macro and commodity trends that ripple through markets far from the Korean peninsula. It also comes as North Korea's own economic and diplomatic posture, including deepening rail and infrastructure links with Russia such as a new cross-border bridge opened earlier this month, signals a long-term rather than transactional relationship.

Tuesday's message adds little new in substance but confirms that Pyongyang intends to stay firmly aligned with Moscow for the foreseeable future, a stance that will keep the North Korea-Russia axis on the watchlist of governments and markets alike as the Ukraine war continues into its fourth year.

This is an original summary based on public reporting. See our editorial policy for how we source, write, and correct our stories.