Kim Jong Un's personal letter sets off alarm bells in the West

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent an official letter to Russian President Putin, pledging to deepen security coordination and expressing confidence in Russia's victory in the war. According to a Reuters report, about 15,000 North Korean soldiers have already been integrated into the front in Ukraine, with around 6,000 killed or wounded. Kyiv fears a wave of reinforcements of tens of thousands more. The main concern in the West: the leakage of advanced Russian technology to North Korea's nuclear and missile program.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent an official letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, pledging to deepen security coordination and expand military assistance. The letter, sent in response to Putin's greetings on the 78th anniversary of North Korea's founding, expresses personal and unequivocal loyalty and provides a tailwind for the Kremlin. According to a Reuters report, the military alliance between the two countries has crossed the declaratory threshold and become a blood partnership on the battlefield. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022, Pyongyang has become a major arms supplier to Russia, and since the end of 2024, it has become an active partner on the battlefield. According to intelligence assessments in the West and South Korea, between 14,000 and 15,000 North Korean fighters have been sent to Russian territory, and some have taken a direct part in battles in the Kursk region. Seoul estimates that about 6,000 of them have already been killed or wounded. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Pyongyang is preparing to send a massive wave of reinforcements of between 30,000 and 50,000 additional soldiers, along with ballistic missile shipments. The main concern in the West is that the North Korean military is gaining critical operational experience in modern warfare, while Moscow is providing the isolated regime with sensitive military technologies, including in the fields of nuclear and ballistic missiles. The strategic agreement signed between Kim and Putin in June 2024, which included a commitment to mutual defense, is now being fully realized on the ground.