Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has denied claims by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Pyongyang plans to send up to 50,000 additional troops to Russia to fight alongside its forces.
Kim Yo Jong, a senior official in the ruling Workers' Party of North Korea, described the assessment by Zelensky as groundless and fabricated, Reuters reported.
She said full responsibility for the outbreak and prolongation of the crisis in Ukraine lies entirely with the United States and its Western allies.
Kim Yo Jong is one of the most influential political figures in North Korea, frequently issuing statements on behalf of the regime in Pyongyang on international security and foreign policy.
Relations with Washington
She also stated that the hostile policy of the United States towards North Korea has not changed, despite President Donald Trump ordering a significant reduction in joint military exercises with South Korea.
Although personal relations between the leaders of the United States and North Korea are excellent, she noted that Washington continues to hold military drills with Seoul and threaten national security in Pyongyang. Joint exercises between American and South Korean forces have long been a major point of tension on the Korean Peninsula.
She added that she was unaware of any recent contact between Kim Jong Un and the American president. However, Trump stated he had received a response from Kim after scaling back US exercises with Seoul and described North Korea as a respected nation that poses no threat.
Military deployment in Russia
In 2024, North Korea dispatched approximately 14,000 troops to the Kursk region of western Russia under a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement signed when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Pyongyang in June 2024.
Ukrainian and independent estimates indicate that Pyongyang has also supplied the Russian military with millions of artillery and mortar shells, ballistic missiles, long-range artillery, and multiple launch rocket systems.
Despite these extensive weapons shipments and troop deployments, defense experts doubt that reinforcing the Russian army with North Korean soldiers will significantly alter the overall course of the war in Ukraine.
