North Korean leader Kim Jong Un praised soldiers who blew themselves while fighting against Ukraine up rather than be captured — confirming reports that the Hermit Nation’s soldiers were resorting to suicide bombings while fighting for Russia.
Kim, who sent an estimated 14,000 troops to fight Ukraine, described all his soldiers as “heroes” during a speech on Monday commemorating Pyongyang and Moscow’s military partnership.
However, he called out the soldiers who carried out “self-blasting” attacks after being defeated.
“It is not only the heroes who unhesitatingly chose the path of self-blasting and suicide to defend great honor, but also those who fell while charging at the forefront of assault battles,” he said, according to transcripts from KCNA state media.
“Those who writhed in frustration at failing to fulfil their duty as soldiers rather than suffering the agony of their bodies being torn apart by bullets and shells — these too can be called the party’s loyal warriors and patriots,” he said of the survivors.
Kim’s remarks were the latest attempts from Pyongyang to frame the soldiers’ suicides as heroic and patriotic, with state media outlets repeating reports of wounded soldiers who allegedly detonated their grenades to avoid capture and buy time for other cornered troops.
North Korea had previously remained silent on the allegations from Ukrainian soldiers who witnessed the suicide tactic first-hand, warning of the extreme policies put into place by Pyongyang.
The Hermit Kingdom had answered Russia’s call for aid in 2024 after Ukraine mounted a surprise counter-invasion in Russia’s Kursk region to split up Moscow’s invasion force, marking a humiliating chapter for dictator Vladimir Putin in the war.
The North Korean fighters, however, suffered heavy casualties, with more than 6,000 soldiers killed in the fighting to retake Kursk, according to reports.
Kim honored those troops in a memorial ceremony on Monday, the one-year anniversary of the retaking of Kursk, where he unveiled a towering bronze sculpture of North Korean and Russian soldiers in combat.
“As that immortal group sculpture of the soldiers of the two countries shows, the times expect us to be always ready, to be able to devote ourselves and to be resolute like them,” Kim said.
The memorial site included black marble walls with the name of about 2,288 soldiers believed to have been killed in the Kursk combat, according to an analysis by NK News.
Several North Korean soldiers remain in Ukrainian custody after they were captured on the capital field, but their fate remains unclear as releasing them back to Pyongyang could endanger their lives, human rights advocates warned.
With Post Wires
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