Russian Ambassador Says Wounded Soldiers Treated in North Korea

Russian Ambassador to North Korea Alexandr Matsegora said today that Russian soldiers wounded in combat in the war in Ukraine are being rehabilitated in specialized health centers and clinics in North Korea.

"A clear example of the fraternal relations [between Russians and North Koreans] is the rehabilitation of hundreds of fighters injured in the special military operation in Korean sanatoriums and medical centers," the Russian diplomat said in an interview with the Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

The ambassador, who did not provide further details about the presence of Russian troops in North Korea, said "that in recent years, the positive attitude of North Koreans towards Russians has become more noticeable."

"Wherever we go, we are greeted with a smile. They try to speak Russian, they offer us help," he continued.

Alexandr Matsegora also recalled that last year, "North Korea's best children's rest center, Songdowon, on the shores of the Sea of ​​Japan, received children whose parents died heroically on the Ukrainian battlefields."

Still on the rehabilitation process of Russian soldiers, the Russian diplomat stressed that all services provided were free of charge.

"Everything: the treatment, care and food for the soldiers, was free," he stressed.

"When we proposed to our friends that they compensate at least part of the expenses, they were sincerely offended and asked us never to propose such a thing again," he said.

Russia and North Korea signed a strategic partnership agreement in June last year that provides for mutual assistance in the event of aggression.

In October last year, the United States, South Korea and Ukraine said a contingent of up to 12,000 North Korean soldiers had arrived in the Russian border region of Kursk, partially occupied by the Ukrainian army since August, and taken part in fighting, information that was never confirmed by Moscow or Pyongyang.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, arguing that it wanted to protect pro-Russian separatist minorities in the east and "denazify" the neighboring country, independent since 1991 - after the collapse of the Soviet Union - and which has been moving away from Moscow's sphere of influence and closer to Europe and the West.

Negotiations between the two sides have been completely blocked since spring 2022, with Moscow continuing to demand that Ukraine accept the annexation of a part of its territory.