Kim Jong-un has publicly mourned nine North Korean soldiers killed in Russia, in a rare display of grief analysts say belies a harder message of military solidarity with Moscow and rising expectations of compensation.
North Korean state television broadcast scenes of Kim greeting wounded soldiers in wheelchairs and consoling relatives of the fallen during a welcome ceremony in Pyongyang on Friday.
The event honoured engineering units that had recently returned from Russia’s western Kursk region, where they were deployed on mine-clearing missions.
Kim Jong-un welcomes North Korean soldiers back from Ukraine war
Kim Jong-un welcomes North Korean soldiers back from Ukraine war
State media said nine combat engineers were killed during the operation, marking the first time Pyongyang has disclosed casualty figures linked to its involvement in the Ukraine war.
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“Although there were nine tragic sacrifices, I once again express my heartfelt gratitude that all the commanders and soldiers of the engineering regiment have returned,” Kim was quoted as saying by the state-run news agency KCNA.
He said the engineering unit had performed “a miracle” by transforming “a vast danger zone into a safe and secure area in less than three months” – a task some had believed would take years.
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“The regiment, organised on May 28, departed in early August and achieved brilliant combat results while carrying out engineering combat missions” in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, “which our comrades liberated at the cost of their lives”, Kim added.