Moscow and Pyongyang have been unclear for months about the schedule North Korean troops In the Russian war against Ukraine, even after Kiyiv publicly parade two North Korean soldiers who captured his forces.

Then, in statements back, the leaders of the two countries confirmed that North Korean troops fought from shoulder to shoulders with Russia, saying that they had helped to free the border region of the Ukrainian forces.

Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, he said he sent the troops to Russia to step up his military alliance, praising their “heroes and courage,” the state media in the country said on Monday. Mr. Kim ordered the monument to be built for soldiers killed in Russia, as if reminiscent of President Vladimir V. Putin to the debt he owed.

Mr. Putin said on Monday that the Russian people would never forget the features of North Korea’s special forces. “We will always honor the Korean heroes who gave their lives for Russia, for our common freedom, comparing to the Russian brothers in weapons,” he said in a statement published on the Kremlin website.

The statements were followed by the first official acknowledgment of military assistance in North Korea on Saturday, although the Alliance has long been known. South Korea officials, Ukraine and the United States said that as many as 4,000 North Korean troops had been killed or wounded while fighting for Russia since last year.

North Korea sent 14,000 soldiers, mostly members Special Operation UnitsRussia, including 3,000 Shipped earlier this year to replace killed or wounded, according to South Korean officials. North Korea also provided millions of artillery shells, as well as many Balistic missiles, which Russia used for pounds of Ukrainian cities.

Sudden but coordinated revelation showed that both Russia and North Korea use their newly established military alliance as a negotiating influence, analysts said.

By claiming that the “complete liberation” of Kurska was with the help of North Korean troops, Moscow denied Ukraine a key negotiating chip in peacekeeping negotiations. The continuous commitment to military assistance in North Korea also helps to strengthen Russian negotiating powers because US President, Donald J. Trump, becomes impatient for the peace agreement with Moscow and Kiev. On Sunday, State Secretary Marco Rubio warned that Mr. Trump could leave his attempts to mediate a settlement if he did not see progress soon.

For North Korea, the cementing of the military alliance with Russia “at the cost of blood in the combat shooting” and holding Mr. Putin, who looks at Mr. Kim, increases his own diplomatic influence against Washington. Mr. Trump said that wanted to reach out Mr. Kim for a possible agreement on his nuclear weapon program.

“This is a winning strategy for both Russia and North Korea,” said Hong Min, an expert in North Korea from the Korean Institute for National Unification in Seoul.

On Saturday, General Valery V. Gerasimov, the chief military commander of the Russian, praised “the courage and heroism of the North Korean troops”, arguing that he was a “complete liberation” of the Russian border region. He also thanked them for “significant assistance in the defeat of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”

The Ukrainian army stunned Russia in August, attacking across the border and taking control of parts of the ditch. But the Russians began to beat them after the arrival of the North Korean troops late last year. On Saturday, General Gerasimov claimed that Russia had now controlled parts of the neighboring Ukrainian region of Sumy, although it did not specify whether North Koreans joined the operation.

Ukraine challenged the claim of Russia that she had taken over again, insisting that his troops continue to hold positions there.

Kiyiv hoped to take advantage of the land he had taken in Kurska as a negotiating chip in peacekeeping negotiations with Russia, which seized parts of the East and South Ukraine since its offensive began in 2022. The president of Ukraine from Ukraine met with Mr. Trump on the aside, on Saturday.

North Korea’s state media showed that Mr. Kim first suggested to send troops to Russia Mutual defense contract He signed with Mr. Putin in Pyongyang last June. The decision “showed the highest strategic level of solid militant friendship” between the two countries.

“In our capital, a monument of Battle to the prisoners will be erected in our capital, and the flowers of prayer for the immortality given by the homeland and people will be placed in front of the tombstones of fallen soldiers,” Mr. Kim quoted in the North Korean media.

North Korea can send more troupes to Russia in the future and expand its troops’ operations to deepen their military relationships and receive more prizes, said the Doo Jin-ho, a senior analyst from the Korean Institute for Defense Analysis in Seoul.

South Korean and United States officials said they were afraid that North Korea received poorly necessary economic assistance and assistance in weapons technologies from Russia in exchange for troops. Such assistance would help in North Korea’s time influence of international sanctions under the guidance of the US and improve its army abilities.