A Russian official selected to control the occupied Ukrainian region of Kherson revealed that he had recently met with North Korea’s top diplomat in Moscow to discuss the country potentially buying agricultural products seized in the ongoing invasion, South Korean and Russian media revealed this weekend.
Kherson is one of four regions of Ukraine that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin decreed to be “annexed” into Russia in September 2022, alongside Donetsk and Luhansk — the long war-torn Donbas regions — and Zaporizhzhia. Putin claimed upon announcing his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 that it was necessary, in part, because the populations of these regions were ethnically Russian and facing discrimination from Kyiv. Ukrainian authorities have refused any peace negotiation that would accept Russia’s claim of sovereignty over the territories.
North Korea has been one of Russia’s most enthusiastic supporters in invading Ukraine and is one of a small handful of countries actively fighting in the conflict. Communist dictator Kim Jong-un confirmed that he sent troops to the Ukraine war theater, but Pyongyang insists they are only operating in Kursk, a Russian territory that Ukraine counter-invaded in 2024. Kim has presided over several events to honor North Korea’s troops killed fighting in Europe.
A deal to extract Ukrainian resources such as grain from Kherson to North Korea would expand the Asian country’s presence and geopolitical influence in Europe, as sanctions have long prevented regular economic ties between Pyongyang and most European countries.
Vladimir Saldo, a pro-Russian Ukrainian politician installed as the Kherson “governor” on October 4, 2022, shared a post on his social media accounts including photos of himself meeting with North Korean Ambassador to Moscow Sin Hong-chol and detailing a meeting with the diplomat to discuss trade and “humanitarian” cooperation. According to the South Korean news agency Yonhap, Saldo’s post highlighted selling agricultural products to North Korea as an area of keen interest on the part of his Russian-dominated government, including grain and vegetable oil. He also suggested that occupied Ukraine could engage in North Korea for sporting and education events and reportedly concluded stating that he had invited the North Korean ambassador to visit farms in Kherson to explore the potential of the country receiving Ukrainian agricultural products.
“Saldo said North Korea’s need for food products aligned with proposals from the Russian-installed administration,” according to the Moscow Times. North Korea, like all communist countries, has notoriously struggled with mass starvation and food shortages for decades despite possessing substantial farmland.
The Ukrainian government soundly condemned the meeting and the potential of exports from Kherson to North Korea in its state media and a response from government agencies.
“Such meetings are part of the Kremlin’s typical strategy to legitimize its proxies in the temporarily occupied territories,” the Center for Countering Disinformation, an arm of the Ukrainian National Security Council, said in a statement on Sunday, according to the state outlet Ukrinform. “Saldo is not the first to try to present such contacts as full-fledged international cooperation. This is not ‘diplomacy,’ but an attempt to portray a ‘normalization of life,’ where occupied regions allegedly become actors.”
Ukrinform referred to the goods being discussed for trade as “stolen Ukrainian grain.”
United24 Media, a separate outlet linked to Ukraine, accused Russia of maintaining a “systematic effor… to illegally export stolen Ukrainian agricultural products to fund its war machine.”
North Korea first became an influential actor in the Russian invasion of Ukraine following Putin’s visit to Pyongyang in June 2024, in which he and Kim Jong-un signed a mutual defense agreement in which the two countries committed to “mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties to this treaty.” By November of that year, South Korea’s intelligence officials had documented evidence of North Korean soldiers fighting in the Ukraine war theater. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later confirmed the reports by releasing videos of two alleged North Korean soldiers captured by his forces in January 2025.
“Ukraine is ready to hand over Kim Jong-un’s soldiers to him if he can organize their exchange for our warriors who are being held captive in Russia,” Zelensky wrote in a social media message accompanying the videos. Kim has not, at press time, responded publicly to Zelensky’s offer.
The North Korean dictator has used his forces present in the Ukraine invasion pervasively in state propaganda features, including both joyous welcome-back ceremonies for soldiers and tearful mourning displays honoring the fallen. In July, North Korean state television aired footage of Kim Jong-un crying while watching propaganda lamenting the country’s dead soldiers.
Experts suggest that Kim may have cried on camera as a way of emphasizing North Korea’s sacrifice to an audience of Russian decisionmakers, a way to pressure Russia into giving North Korea more in return for supporting the invasion.
Intelligence experts estimate that North Korea has deployed as many as 15,000 soldiers to Europe to aid the Ukraine invasion. Estimates of how many North Koreans have died fighting for Russia range widely between 600 to 5,000 men.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.