In August last year, Ukrainian troops suddenly invaded Russian Kursk, occupying several border cities. While the outside world was still speculating whether Russia would ask for support, North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un ordered to send troops to support the Russian front. In less than three weeks, about 11,000 North Korean Special Forces troops crossed the border and marched to the Kursk battlefield, becoming the most surprising party in the war.
At that time no one thought that the battle not only did not drag North Korea into the dungeon, but instead became a North Korean "hook-up". Instead of opposing it, the people in North Korea set off a service upsurge, and the wave of heroism swept across the country.How did this sudden troop dispatch affect North Korean society step by step? How did Kim Jong-un turn a military operation into a bonus of national strategy?
North Korea's entry into the war was not a hasty move. As early as June 2024, Kim Jong-un and Putin signed a document called the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty, which clearly contained provisions for military cooperation.
This seemingly ordinary agreement has already laid the groundwork for North Korea's subsequent military troop dispatch, technical cooperation and economic exchange. When the Ukrainian army broke into Kursk in August, Kim Jong-un quickly ordered the dispatch of troops and emphasized: The violation of Russia's sovereignty by the West is the violation of North Korea's sovereignty.
This is not a screaming slogan, but a signal behind North Korea’s radical geostrategic shift. Over the past few decades, North Korea has been aiming for reunification with the South and North, and South Korea is “compatriot” but is now directly defined as “enemy”. This shift requires sufficient spiritual support from the domestic community, and the “Russian battlefield” has become the best stage.
They initially also used traditional Soviet-style naval tactics, intensive strikes, resulting in the Ukrainian drone's "living targets".The South Korean intelligence department statistics, only in the early stages, 70% of the North's casualties occurred in the first weeks of adaptation to the battlefield.
In the battle of the village of Machnovka, even a camp was completely destroyed by the Ukrainian army. But then, the performance of the North Korean forces was bright. They quickly improved tactics, using the "three-three-system" group tactics to deal with drones: One person deliberately exposed himself to lure the drone close, while the other two prepared to shoot down.
Even in the snowstorm of minus 20 degrees, these North Korean soldiers still stood firm and showed strong environmental adaptability. This tenacious will made the Russian army comment: This is definitely an elite army。 Russia is not stingy with support. On the front line, the Korean army not only received night vision devices and body armor, but also received drones and electronic warfare training.
More importantly, Russia handed over a batch of satellite technology, submarine missile test data, air defense systems and drone components to North Korea, which is of great significance for North Korea's military modernization.
Behind these weapons, in fact, is the "technical training fee" on the Russian Ukrainian battlefield. the troops exchanged not only technology, but also real economic benefits. From 2023 to 2025, North Korea exported more than 5 million 152mm cannons to Russia, as well as rocket bombs and millions of shelling guns.
German think tanks estimate that North Korea earned $980 million in arms revenue alone, and other assessments even believe that the total amount is as high as $5.5 billion. What is the concept of this number? North Korea's annual GDP in 2024 will only be US $27 billion.This money directly alleviated the domestic food and fuel shortage, while Russia exchanged oil, grain, machinery and equipment.
What surprised the outside world even more was that North Korea did not become turbulent due to sending troops, but became more United. The turning point of matters came in late June 2025, when Kim Jong-un received Russian Minister of Culture Lyubimova, and North Korea made public the video materials of soldiers participating in the war for the first time.
In the picture, Kim Jong Un kneels on his knees and covers the national flag on the coffin, allowing the entire Korean society to move for it. After this, North Korea began to increase its propaganda efforts. Beginning in August, donations across the country flooded, and tens of thousands of people donated large amounts of money for building monuments and comforting martyrs' families. Heroism became the main melody of the whole society, and young people joined the army with an unprecedented increase in enthusiasm.
North Korean officials quickly seized this emotional window. Kim Jong-un personally awarded medals to 101 fallen soldiers and knelt down in front of the memorial wall for a long time, which caused great domestic repercussions. He also specifically announced: All non-governmental donations will be refunded by the government, and the state will undertake the pension and memorial construction of the martyrs。
It means telling all the people: The country will not treat any hero badly, and it doesn't need you to spend money. The country will bear everythingThis approach greatly enhances the sense of security and identity of the people. For young people, this war brought not only emotional motivation, but also realistic choices. North Korea is a nationwide military service system, many young people have been forced to join the army, and service time is often delayed.
But this time differently, many teenagers initially enrolled in hopes of becoming part of the “hero army”. This change is an unprecedented harvest for a country that has long relied on compulsory military service. The reaction of the international community is also subtle. Ukrainian President Zelensky called on China on December 27, 2024, calling for mediation, saying “North Korean soldiers should not become the ashes of the battlefield in Europe.”
He also revealed that North Korean troops are constantly stationed in the most dangerous areas, and there are even cases of internal executions of fighters.But China adheres to the principle of "not interfering in the internal affairs of others" and has not interfered. On the one hand, North Korea has almost no room for sanctions; on the other hand, the UN Security Council could not pass a new resolution because of China-Russia opposition.。
South Korea and Japan are the most tense. They fear that North Korea has obtained the key parameters of the Russian high-speed gliding warheads, and the defense system in the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan may be fully upgraded. This means that the arms race in East Asia will be further pushed up. But for China, this is not a bad thing. North Korea’s strategic stability and military modernization can instead hold on to the US and South Korea and disperse its pressure on China.
More importantly, the tripartite relations between China and Russia became closer after the operation. Today, North Korean labor forces have entered Kursk and participated in post-war reconstruction. Russia and Russia also plan to build a monument in Pyongyang and Kursk to commemorate this "brotherhood".
This war not only brought technology, capital and international status to North Korea, but also unexpectedly reshaped the domestic mental outlook. Kim Jong-un really made the right bet. North Korea's aid to Russia not only brought solid resources and technology in exchange, but also unexpectedly stimulated people's national identity and patriotic enthusiasm, becoming a classic operation of "winning outside the war and winning inside the war".
Source of information:
Foreign media worries about Putin and Kim Jong-un attending the 93rd parade: all who Trump wanted to see arrived.
[2] The documentary of Kim Jong-un's attendance at the 1993 military parade was released, and exclusive footage of talking with Putin and leaving Beijing to return home was revealed Red Star News