North Korean leader Kim Jong-un offered a rare public tribute to soldiers killed while fighting in Russia's war against Ukraine, placing his hands on their repatriated coffins during a state event in Pyongyang, signaling a significant shift in the regime's public acknowledgment of its military role in the conflict.
Footage aired by state-run KRT television showed Kim appearing emotional during a gala at East Pyongyang Grand Theatre on Sunday, held to mark the one-year anniversary of a strategic military agreement between North Korea and Russia. The event featured performances by North Korean and Russian artists alongside wartime imagery, including flag-draped coffins, battlefield scenes, and a bloodstained notebook believed to belong to a fallen North Korean soldier.
According to South Korea's Yonhap news agency, entries from the recovered notebook included phrases such as, "The decisive moment has finally come," and "Let us bravely fight this sacred battle with the boundless love and trust bestowed upon us by our beloved Supreme Commander."
The exact date of the repatriation ceremony remains unclear, though winter coats worn by Kim, his sister Kim Yo-jong, and Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui suggest the event took place months earlier. The Korea Herald reported this was the first time North Korean state media showed footage of soldiers deployed to Russia accessible to the domestic population.
North Korea has reportedly deployed around 15,000 troops to fight alongside Russian forces since last autumn. South Korean lawmakers in April estimated about 4,700 casualties among North Korean forces, including 600 deaths. Seoul's intelligence officials warned that additional deployments may occur in July or August.
Initially denying any involvement, Pyongyang has increasingly acknowledged its role in the conflict. In April, both Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly confirmed the deployment of North Korean forces and referred to them as "heroes." Kim pledged to build a monument in Pyongyang to honor the fallen and to place flowers at their tombstones, effectively confirming combat deaths for the first time.
"North Korea probably wanted to frame the fallen soldiers not just as sacrifices but as part of a victory narrative," said Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification. He added that the footage appears to have been released after both countries acknowledged the troop deployment and celebrated the success of their joint operation to reclaim the Kursk region in western Russia.
The North has also supplied Russia with large quantities of artillery shells, ballistic missiles, and other munitions in exchange for military technology and economic assistance, according to intelligence assessments.
Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova, who attended the Pyongyang event, joined Kim and other officials including Kim's daughter, Kim Ju-ae, who was also prominently featured. Many observers believe Ju-ae, often seen at major public events, is being positioned as her father's likely successor.
State news agency KCNA stated the event underscored the "ties of friendship and the genuine internationalist obligation between the peoples and armies of the two countries that were forged at the cost of blood." Audience members were seen wiping away tears as images of soldiers and battlefield tributes played on a large screen, marking a highly choreographed pivot in North Korean war messaging.
