(4th LD) N. Korea to send 6,000 military builders, sappers to Kursk region

(ATTN: ADDS remarks, details in paras 7-11; REWRITES lead)

SEOUL, June 17 (Yonhap) — North Korea will send 5,000 military construction workers and 1,000 sappers to Russia’s Kursk region, Russian media reports said Tuesday, in another possible sign of their deepening military alignment as Moscow’s security chief visited Pyongyang for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The announcement came as Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu visited the North Korean capital on a special mission from Russian President Vladimir Putin and held talks with Kim earlier in the day, as the two countries prepare to mark the first anniversary of their mutual defense treaty.

“Chairman of the State Affairs of the DPRK Kim Jong-un has decided to send 1,000 sappers to Russia to clear mines on Russian territory, as well as 5,000 military construction workers to restore infrastructure destroyed by the occupiers,” Tass quoted Shoigu as saying, referring to the North by the acronym of its official name.

It marks Shoigu’s second visit to North Korea this month, following his previous trip in early June, during which he also met with Kim and discussed security issues involving the Korean Peninsula.

Tass quoted the Russian Security Council as saying that Shoigu’s meeting with Kim is part of the agreements reached during his previous visit to North Korea on June 4, adding that it is a follow-up to the mutual defense agreement signed last year between North Korea and Russia.

Shoigu’s back-to-back visit to North Korea comes as Pyongyang and Moscow mark the first anniversary of the signing of the treaty on their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in June last year in Pyongyang by Kim and Putin, which resulted in North Korea’s deployment of troops on the Russian side in the war against Ukraine.

North Korea is estimated to have sent 3,000 more soldiers to the Kursk region this year after deploying some 11,000 troops to Russia last year, according to South Korea’s military, amid speculations over Pyongyang receiving arms and military technology in exchange for troop deployment.

More than half of the initially deployed 11,000 troops are estimated to have sustained casualties, according to a recent assessment by Britain’s defense ministry.