Kim Jong Un praises North Korean soldiers who died for Russia as ‘heroes’ in emotional ceremony
The North Korean chief Kim Jong One praised the fallen soldiers of his country in the Russian war against Ukraine as a “hero” during a ceremony for the presentation of emotional prizes, the state media said on Friday in a rare public admission of the losses that Pyongyang suffered in the conflict.
The North Korean leader “granted deep gratitude and militant respect” to those who had returned home “despite the hail of bullets and war bombs in the foreign country,” reported the KCNA state news agency.
“The victory won by the brave soldiers who participated in the war is an excellent feat which firmly defended the great honor of KPA,” Kim, referring to his soldiers, the army of the Korean people.
The photos published by State Media have shown Kim to pinch glowing badges on the uniforms of soldiers as well as on photo frames of deceased soldiers hanging on a wall. They also showed him to meet and embrace family members in tears deceased soldiers.
KCNA said Kim posed a flower on a commemorative wall and paid a silent tribute during the ceremony, during which the national anthem was also played.
Thursday’s ceremony intervened a week after Kim received a letter from Russian President Vladimir Putin who also described the North Korean troops as “heroic”.
“The bonds of militant friendship, good will and mutual aid that were consolidated at the time of war are still solid and reliable for a long time today,” said Putin in the letter published by the voice of the North Korean state media.
Pyongyang and Moscow marked increasingly close ties after the Kremlin found itself diplomatically isolated after its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Kim and Putin signed a mutual defense pact last year, and experts claim that North Korea may have sent troops to Russia in exchange for advanced military technology that would help its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Neither Russia nor North Korea confirmed deployments until months after Pyongyang sent its first soldiers last fall. Although the two countries have not revealed the exact number of troops involved, it could reach 15,000, according to South Korean, American and Ukrainian officials.
Among these, around 600 would have been killed, said the South Korea espionage agency, and thousands of other injured.
Although North Korea has one of the world’s largest soldiers in the world, its troops have little combat experience in the real world since the end of the Korean War in 1953. But they are strongly loyal to Kim and are trained to commit suicide rather than surrender, the former North Korean soldiers who defected told NBC News.
According to South Korean information, there was at least one incident in which a North Korean soldier seeking to avoid capture by Ukrainian forces was killed while trying to explode a grenade and shout the name of Kim.
We do not know how many North Korean troops remain on the fronts. The South Korean legislators said after an intelligence briefing in June that North Korea could deploy additional troops in Russia in July or August and that it continued to provide Moscow with arms.
