SEOUL, Aug 18 (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his North Korean counterpart that their countries were working to establish a “new and righteous world order”, after Pyongyang helped Moscow to drive Ukrainian forces from a Russian region last year.
In a message to North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, Lavrov also reaffirmed Moscow’s pledge to boost cooperation in all areas and contribute to regional and international security, North Korea’s KCNA news agency said on Tuesday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent an estimated 14,000 soldiers to Russia in late 2024 to help Moscow beat back a major Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk region. Russian President Vladimir Putin declared victory in May 2025 and publicly thanked Pyongyang for its help.
North Korea and Russia are continuing to establish a “new and righteous world order on the basis of genuine equality and national interests,” KCNA quoted Lavrov as saying in his message.
“The participation of service personnel of the Korean People’s Army in the operations to drive the Ukrainian Nazi clique and foreign mercenaries out of Kursk is a clear proof of the tradition of the militant friendship forged by the heroic preceding generations,” Lavrov said.
Since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has often sought to characterise President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s government as “Nazis” bent on persecuting Russian-speakers in Ukraine. Zelenskiy, who is Jewish, and his Western allies dismiss this characterisation as absurd.
South Korea and Western countries are concerned that Pyongyang may be getting help with weapons development from Moscow in return for its help in Ukraine.
Earlier this month, Zelenskiy said up to 50,000 North Korean soldiers would be sent to Russia in a new deployment to help increase the military pressure on Ukraine.
Pyongyang has also provided Russia with millions of artillery and mortar rounds, ballistic missiles, long-range artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems, according to Ukrainian and independent assessments.
(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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