Putin defends 'sovereign right' to deploy North Korean troops

Russian President Putin attends a press conference at the end of BRICS summit in Kazan. (Photo/Reuters)

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday defended his country's sovereign right to utilise foreign troops in its conflict with Ukraine, responding to mounting Western allegations that North Korean soldiers have already been deployed to support Russian forces on the front lines.

Putin also asserted that if Ukraine sought to join NATO, Moscow would take whatever measures it deemed necessary to ensure its own security. "When we have to decide something, we will decide... but it is our sovereign decision whether we will apply it, whether we will not, whether we need it," Putin told Russian state television. "This is our business."

The Russian leader pointed out that the West repeatedly said that it was up to Ukraine how it ensured its security - "with or without NATO," adding that "the sooner they realise the futility of such an approach in relations with Russia, the better it will be for everyone, and perhaps, above all, for themselves."

In a related statement, North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister, Kim Jong Gyu, declared that any troop deployment to Russia would conform to international law "despite possible attempts by others to portray it as illegal," although he did not confirm whether troops had actually been sent.

“If there is such a thing that the world media is talking about, I think it will be an act conforming with the regulations of international law,” he said, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

North Korea had earlier rejected the claims as an attempt to tarnish Pyongyang’s image.

The latest Russian and North Korean statements came on a day when Dutch intelligence claimed that Russia has deployed at least 1,500 North Korean troops to Ukrainian border regions.

"We expect the troops will mainly be deployed in Kursk and consist of mainly special units from the North Korean army," Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said, adding that the first deployment was a way for Russia to test the troops and to gauge international reaction, according to a Reuters report.

Kursk is a Russian city located near the Ukrainian border, where Ukrainian forces conducted a significant incursion in August.

The report marks the latest in a series of Western claims regarding North Korea’s alleged military support for Russia.

The US said Wednesday that 3,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia and are training at several locations, calling the move very serious and warning that those forces will be “fair game” if they go into combat in Ukraine, the AP reported.

This development comes in the context of a recent bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership agreement between Russia and North Korea, which Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed during the Russian leader’s June visit to Pyongyang.

The agreement includes a mutual defense clause obliging each party to support the other in the event of an armed attack. Article 4 of the agreement says: "If one of the Parties is subjected to an armed attack by any state or several states and thus finds itself in a state of war, the other party will immediately provide military and other assistance with all means at its disposal."

While Moscow has refrained from confirming the specifics of North Korean troop involvement, the Kremlin maintains that its alliance with Pyongyang will operate under mutually beneficial terms.

Also on Friday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stressed that the bond between Russia and North Korea is likely to deepen, with future high-level exchanges possible. Russia and North Korea, being close neighbors, are constantly exchanging visits, Peskov told reporters commenting on social media speculations that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may visit Russia in 2025.

"The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is our neighbor, and we are developing strong ties in all possible areas. Of course, close neighbors are constantly exchanging high-level and top-level visits," the Kremlin official said, according to Russia’s Tass news agency.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with the North Korean leader in June during his visit to Pyongyang. Previously, the two leaders met in Russia in September 2023 during talks at the Vostochny Cosmodrome spaceport in the Amur Region. Kim also visited Russia in April 2019 for a meeting with Putin in Vladivostok.

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Source: TRT