SEOUL: North Korea confirmed for the first time on Monday it had deployed troops to Russia, with its state news agency KCNA reporting Pyongyang`s soldiers helped Moscow reclaim territory under Ukrainian control in the Russian border region of Kursk.

The admission comes just days after Moscow confirmed the North`s participation, while Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday heralded the `feat` of Pyongyang`s troops. South Korean and Western intelligence agencies have long reported that Pyongyang sent more than 10,000 soldiers to help in Kursk last year.

North Korean forces `participated in the operations for liberating the Kursk areas`, Pyongyang`s Central Military Commission said in the KCNA report. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un`s decision to deploy the troops, it said, was in accordance with a mutual defence treaty. `They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honour of the motherland,` Kim said, according to KCNA.

Kim added that a monument to the `battle feats` would soon be built in the capital, and referred to `the tombstones of the fallen soldiers`, publicly confirming that North Korean troops had been killed in combat. The country must `take important national measures to specially honour and care for the families of war veterans`, said Kim.

Russia`s president praised Moscow`s `Korean friends` for their backing in Kursk. `We appreciate it a lot and are deeply grateful to comrade Kim Jong Un personally... and the North Korean people,` the Kremlin cited Putin as saying. Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov on Saturday said North Korean soldiers `provided significant assistance in defeating the group of Ukrainian armed forces`.

South Korea`s Ministry of Defence on Monday said Pyongyang `has admitted to its own criminal acts` which violate UN Security Council resolutions.

China, North Korea`s key economic benefactor which has repeatedly condemned Western backing for Ukraine, declined to comment specifically on the admission from Pyongyang.-AFP