A North Korean military unit officially took part for the first time in Russia's Victory Day (May 9) military parade marking victory in World War II.
Russia's state-run Tass news agency on the 9th released on social media (SNS) a video showing North Korean troops taking part in the parade. The footage showed North Korean soldiers in full-dress uniforms marching in formation with rifles. At the head of the column stood a standard-bearer carrying the North Korean national flag and a flag inscribed with a Victory Day slogan.
As North Korean troops appeared on Moscow's Red Square, North Korean officials including Sin Hong-chol, North Korea's ambassador to Russia, applauded from the stands to welcome them. Tass said this was the first time a North Korean military unit had directly participated in Russia's Victory Day parade.
Major foreign media also took note of North Korea's participation in the Victory Day parade. Reuters and The Associated Press reported that the North Korean troops who marched that day were a unit deployed to Russia's Kursk region that conducted operations with Russian forces. Foreign outlets analyzed that the march carried the character of a Russian "courtesy" for support in the war in Ukraine.
Kursk is a region bordering Ukraine where Ukrainian forces seized parts of the area in Aug. 2024. North Korea then provided troops, and Russia officially announced on Apr. 26 last year that it had fully recaptured Kursk territory. Russian President Vladimir Putin was said to have awarded medals late last year to North Korean commanders who took part in the Battle of Kursk.
Leonid Slutsky, chair of the Russian State Duma's Committee on International Affairs, told Tass, "The North Korean troops' parade march signifies the countries' strategic partnership and alliance," adding, "North Korean soldiers fought bravely and selflessly alongside our soldiers to liberate Russia's Kursk region. This is true comradeship."
NK News, a U.S.-based outlet specializing in North Korea, estimated early this year that about 9,500 North Korean troops are stationed in Russia and involved in the war in Ukraine. After North Korea and Russia signed a "comprehensive strategic partnership treaty" in June 2024, North Korea began sending troops to Russia in Oct. of the same year.
North Korea also sent a delegation, including Kim Young-bok, deputy chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army, to last year's Victory Day, but a military unit did not march directly at that time.
Kim Jong-un, North Korea's State Affairs Commission chair, sent a congratulatory message to President Putin on the 9th marking the 81st Victory Day anniversary, once again highlighting the alliance between North Korea and Russia.