# North Korea to send thousands of workers to help rebuild Russia's Kursk region
North Korea will send thousands of workers to help rebuild Russia's war-damaged Kursk region, according to Russian security chief Sergei Shoigu.
The BBC report says Shoigu, after talks with Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang, described the deployment as fraternal assistance. Russia's TASS news agency quoted him as saying North Korea would send a division of builders, two military brigades of 5,000 people, and 1,000 deminers to aid restoration work in Kursk.
The announcement deepens concern about the growing partnership between Russia and North Korea. For months, observers have warned that the two states are moving from diplomatic alignment into practical military and labour cooperation. South Korea and Japan quickly condemned the plan, with Seoul saying it violated UN sanctions.
The BBC report also links the move to earlier reports that North Korean soldiers have been assisting Russia in its war against Ukraine. That broader context matters because the workers are not being sent into a neutral economic project; they are part of a relationship already shaped by military support and sanctions pressure.
Shoigu's comments were presented as a gesture of solidarity, but they also suggest a transactional arrangement. The report says North Korean workers in Russia are already believed to be a source of revenue for Pyongyang, while Russian officials and analysts have discussed possible returns in the form of cash or access to military technology.
South Korean officials said they had grave concerns about the continuing illegal cooperation between North Korea and Russia. A US State Department spokesperson told Yonhap that Russia's reliance on North Korean labour and soldiers to support its war was deeply concerning.
The report further notes that Russia and North Korea signed a mutual defence treaty in November last year and that both sides have since acknowledged the presence of North Korean troops in Russia. That treaty gives the relationship an official framework, even as critics argue it runs counter to UN sanctions and regional security interests.
At the same time, the deployment of builders and deminers points to the scope of damage in Kursk and the extent to which Russia is now looking for external help in a war zone. The number 5,000 is not small; it implies a substantial labour presence tied to a strategically important region.
The BBC report does not say when the workers will arrive or how they will be deployed on the ground. But the message from Moscow and Pyongyang is unmistakable: cooperation is widening, and it is moving beyond weapons and diplomacy into postwar reconstruction support for Russia's own territory.
