Authoritarian Entanglements at Europe’s Borders: The DPRK–Russia War Nexus and EU Foreign Policy under Pressure

Russia’s war against Ukraine has evolved into the centre of a broader authoritarian alignment that directly connects Europe’s security to developments on the Korean Peninsula. Since late 2023, North Korea (DPRK) has supplied Russia with millions of artillery shells and short-range ballistic missiles used in strikes on Ukrainian cities. In 2024–25, this support expanded to the deployment of thousands of DPRK troops to Russia’s western regions, with reported combat operations and casualties around Kursk. The June 2024 Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Moscow and Pyongyang, which entered into force in December, formalises this relationship as a de facto defence pact, underscoring that the DPRK is now an active participant in Europe’s largest war since 1945. For the European Union, this emerging “missile and manpower axis” turns North Korea from a distant regional problem into an immediate challenge on the EU’s eastern flank. The EU has condemned DPRK–Russia military cooperation and adopted restrictive measures targeting North Korean entities supporting the war. The paper asks: How does the deepening DPRK–Russia war partnership reshape the EU’s understanding of, and policy responses to, European security in an increasingly interconnected international order? I argue that the DPRK’s direct role in the war compels the EU to reconsider three long-standing assumptions: that North Korea is primarily an Asian problem; that UN sanctions and export controls can effectively contain regional conflicts; and that Europe’s security can be managed largely within a Euro-Atlantic framework without sustained engagement with Indo-Pacific partners. Methodologically, the paper combines process-tracing of key episodes in DPRK–Russia cooperation (missile transfers, battlefield use, troop deployments, and the 2024 treaty) with systematic analysis of EU foreign policy documents, sanctions packages, and parliamentary debates. The paper assesses implications for EU sanctions policy, defence industrial planning, and the Union’s nascent Indo-Pacific engagement. It contributes to debates on the EU as a security actor under pressure and on how regional wars are increasingly shaped by global authoritarian entanglements.