North Korea’s Kim stresses shared bloodshed in New Year message to Putin
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said 2025 was a “really meaningful year” for the bilateral alliance that was consolidated by “sharing blood, life and death in the same trench”.
PHOTO: AFP
SEOUL - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un highlighted on Dec 27 how his nation and Russia had shared “blood, life and death” in the Ukraine war, as he sent Russian President Vladimir Putin New Year’s greetings.
Pyongyang has dispatched thousands of troops
In the message, published by the state-run KCNA news agency, Mr Kim said 2025 was a “really meaningful year” for the bilateral alliance that was consolidated by “sharing blood, life and death in the same trench”.
North Korea confirmed only in April that it had deployed troops to support Russia’s military campaign against Ukraine, and that its soldiers had been killed in combat
Earlier in December, Pyongyang acknowledged that it had sent troops to clear mines in Russia’s Kursk region in August.
At least nine troops from an engineering regiment were killed during the 120-day deployment, Mr Kim said in a speech on Dec 12 marking the unit’s homecoming.
Mr Kim sent Mr Putin his New Year’s greetings a day after the North Korean leader ordered officials to step up missile production
Pyongyang has increased missile testing in recent years – aimed, analysts say, at improving precision strike capabilities, challenging the US as well as South Korea, and testing weapons before exporting them to Russia.
In addition to sending troops to fight for Russia, Pyongyang has sent artillery shells, missiles and long-range rocket systems.
In return, Russia is sending North Korea financial aid, military technology and food and energy supplies, analysts have said. AFP
