North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has expressed admiration for his country’s soldiers deployed to assist Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Kim “conveyed warm words of encouragement” to officers and soldiers stationed in Russia’s Kursk region, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The region is where intelligence agencies say Pyongyang has sent more than 10,000 fighters.

“Ours is a heroic army,” Kim said in a speech to servicemen in the capital.

“Our army is doing what it should do now and will continue to do so in the future,” he added.

His comments come as US President Donald Trump steps up his efforts — so far unsuccessful — to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, holding high-level meetings with the leaders of both countries in recent days.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who last week also called North Korean soldiers “heroic,” has so far avoided meeting his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, for peace talks.

Russia and North Korea have been forging closer ties, including signing a mutual defense treaty last year when Putin visited the isolated country.

In April, North Korea officially confirmed for the first time that it had sent its own military contingent to the front lines in Ukraine alongside Russian troops.

According to South Korean and Western intelligence agencies, Pyongyang sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia’s Kursk region in 2024, as well as artillery shells, rockets and long-range missile systems.

Seoul says about 600 North Korean soldiers have died and thousands more have been wounded while fighting on Russia’s side. | BGNES, AFP