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25-10-2025
PYONGYANG: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said military brotherhood between his country and Russia would “advance non-stop”, state media KCNA reported on Friday.
Kim made the comments during a speech at the groundbreaking ceremony for a memorial for North Korean soldiers who fought alongside Russian troops in Russia’s Kursk region during Moscow’s ongoing war with Ukraine, KCNA said.
“The years of militant fraternity, in which a guarantee has been provided for the long-term development of the bilateral friendship at the cost of precious blood, will advance non-stop,” Kim said, according to KCNA. Challenges by the “domination and tyranny” cannot hinder the two countries’ ties, he added.
The event was the latest public honoring of North Korean troops who fought in Russia to repel an incursion by Ukrainian forces.
Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin have signed a mutual defence pact. North Korea has sent soldiers, artillery ammunition and missiles to Russia to support Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Kyiv and Seoul estimate North Korea deployed more than 10,000 troops to the war in return for economic and military technology assistance from Russia. South Korea’s intelligence agency estimated in September that about 2,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed in the fighting.
Putin remained defiant on Thursday after US President Donald Trump hit Russia’s two biggest oil companies with sanctions to pressure the Kremlin leader to end the war.
Trump will visit South Korea, North Korea’s bitter rival, next week.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin remained defiant on Thursday after US President Donald Trump hit Russia’s two biggest oil companies with sanctions to pressure the Kremlin leader to end the war in Ukraine, a move that pushed global oil prices up 5%.
The US sanctions prompted Chinese state oil majors to suspend Russian oil purchases in the short term, trade sources told media. Refiners in India, the largest buyer of seaborne Russian oil, are set to sharply cut their crude imports, according to industry sources.
The sanctions target oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil, which together account for more than 5% of global oil output, and mark a dramatic U-turn by Trump, who said only last week that he and Putin would soon hold a summit in Budapest to try to end the war in Ukraine.
While the financial impact on Russia may be limited in the short term, the move is a powerful signal of Trump’s intent to squeeze Russia’s finances and force the Kremlin towards a peace deal in its 3-1/2-year-old full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Putin derided the sanctions as an unfriendly act, saying they would not significantly affect the Russian economy and talked up Russia’s importance to the global market. He warned a sharp supply drop would push up prices and be uncomfortable for countries like the United States.
“This is, of course, an attempt to put pressure on Russia,” Putin said “but no self-respecting country and no self-respecting people ever decides anything under pressure.”
Asked about Putin comment that the new sanctions would not have significant impact, Trump told reporters later on Thursday: “I’m glad he feels that way. That’s good. I’ll let you know about it in six months from now.”
With Ukraine asking US and European allies for long-range missiles to help turn the tide in the war, Putin also warned that Moscow’s response to strikes deep into Russia would be “very serious, if not overwhelming”. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
