Kim Jong Un hosted an emotional ceremony to pay tribute to the North Korean soldiers who were sent to fight in Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine, in a rare public admission of military losses in a foreign conflict.
Pictures published in state media showed the North Korean dictator handing out medals, hugging servicemen, comforting the crying children of fallen soldiers and kneeling in front of their portraits.
Mr Kim said in a speech at the ceremony this week that his troops displayed courage and “fighting spirit of the heroes” during their mission to reclaim Russia’s Kursk region from Ukrainian forces, KCNA said.
North Korea is the only country other than Russia and Ukraine to deploy frontline soldiers in the war, though their role has so far been limited to operations on Russian soil. South Korean intelligence – which first reported the North Korean troops’ involvement in Russia – has said North Korea deployed nearly 15,000 troops in Russia, of whom an estimated 600 were killed.
Kim praised his forces as “a heroic army” and called them “the greatest pride of our state” in a speech at the ceremony at Mokran House in Pyongyang.
“The participants of overseas operations, through their steadfast struggle and noble sacrifice, achieved great feats that will be remembered in history forever,” Mr Kim said in a speech.
The North Korean government then held a banquet to celebrate the unit that had returned, KCNA reported.
Mr Kim expressed sorrow for “the martyrs who sacrificed their lives and that he could not repress his regret at failing to bring them all together to this glorious place”.
Mr Kim said the troops represented their country in the “battlefield which became the focus of the world”, proving the might of the heroic North Koreans.
Pictures showed Mr Kim pinning medals to soldiers’ uniforms and meeting the emotional family members of the fallen soldiers.
As well as soldiers, North Korea has sent a large amount of military equipment to Russia to support its invasion of Ukraine, following landmark meetings between Mr Kim and Russian leader Vladimir Putin at which they reaffirmed the strength of their alliance.
The deployment was not initially acknowledged in public either by Pyongyang or Moscow, even as Ukrainian and South Korean intelligence reported the first North Korean soldiers killed fighting on the Kursk frontline.
Ties have continued to deepen between the two isolated regions united in their fight against Western powers. Last week, Mr Kim and his Russian counterpart held a phone call to discuss their deepening ties and developments in the Ukraine war.
That call came ahead of Mr Putin’s summit with Donald Trump in Alaska last week. In his remarks to Mr Kim, the Russian leader also praised the “bravery, heroism and self-sacrificing spirit” of the North Korean troops.
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