It has been confirmed by the Republic of Korea (ROK), U.S., Ukraine, and NATO that North Korean soldiers have been deployed to Russia’s Kursk region. Most recent estimates show that approximately 10,000 troops were sent to Russia and were likely to engage in combat against Ukraine. Nonetheless, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has neither publicly acknowledged, nor denied the deployment. In a statement via the DPRK’s news agency, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jong Gyu of the DPRK rather stated that “the foreign ministry was not directly involved in matters handled by the defense ministry and would not comment directly on any deployment.” He further argued that, if the DPRK was involved as alleged, its actions would conform to international law. On the other hand, President Vladimir Putin has not denied reports of the DPRK’s deployment. He argued instead that it was for Moscow to determine how to implement its mutual defense arrangements with the DPRK.