Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui at the Kremlin, state media reported on Sunday. Kremlin Pool Photo by Alexander Shcherbak/Sputnik/EPA
SEOUL, July 20 (UPI) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked North Korea for its military support in the war against Ukraine and vowed to strengthen bilateral ties during a meeting with visiting Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, Russian state media reported Sunday.
Putin made the remarks during a meeting with Choe at the Kremlin, according to Russia's TASS news agency.
"Once again, I would like to express gratitude for the support for our special military operation, for the decision to send soldiers of the Korean People's Army to take part in the liberation of the Kursk Region," Putin said.
North Korea has deepened military ties with Russia since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Pyongyang has shipped thousands of containers of munitions and deployed about 15,000 troops to assist Russian forces in the Kursk region, South Korea's National Intelligence Service has said, estimating that roughly 2,000 of those troops have been killed.
