What North Korea’s war dead tribute reveals about Kim’s endgame
In Kim Jong-un’s public grief for fallen mine-clearers, observers see a strategic play to lock in a role in Russia’s post-war rebuilding
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
“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.
“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.