The North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un, publicly confirmed the sending of thousands of North Korean soldiers to fight alongside Russia in the war against Ukraine and generated a strong international reaction after praising those who chose to commit suicide rather than be taken prisoner. His statements came last Sunday during an official event in Pyongyang, where a museum dedicated to North Korean soldiers who participated in operations abroad was inaugurated
.In his speech, Kim described as “heroes” both soldiers killed in combat and those who, in his words, chose “the path of immolation and suicide” to avoid capture. The statement, released by the state agency KCNA, represents one of the most explicit recognitions to date of the conditions under which North Korean troops deployed on Russian territory operated
.The ceremony was attended by senior Russian officials, including the Minister of Defense, Andrei Belousov, and the president of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, which evidenced the strengthening of ties between Moscow and Pyongyang. Although President Vladimir Putin did not attend the event, he sent a letter in which he expressed his gratitude to the North Korean soldiers and paid tribute to the fallen
.The event coincided with the first anniversary of the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the Russian region of Kursk, where Ukraine had launched an offensive in 2024 that came to control a significant portion of territory. North Korea had sent between 14,000 and 15,000 troops to support Russia in that area, within the framework of a broader military agreement between the two countries
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According to estimates from the South Korean National Intelligence Service, around 6,000 North Korean soldiers were killed or injured during the fighting. Previous intelligence reports and testimonies from deserters had already indicated that some military personnel resorted to self-destruction using grenades or other explosives to avoid capture, a practice that has now been publicly validated by
