North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, for the first time in the country's history, awarded soldiers who fought abroad - in the Kursk Oblast against Ukraine.
This was reported by the South Korean Yonhap news agency.
The commanders and soldiers of the overseas operational unit of the Korean People's Army received the awards. The ceremony was attended by servicemen, their commanders and families of the deceased.
In his speech, Kim Jong Un called the participants in the battles "great heroes and patriots" who, according to him, "demonstrated to the world the spiritual and ideological superiority of the DPRK in bloody battles."
Several soldiers received the title of "Hero of the DPRK." In addition, medals were placed near 101 portraits of the killed on the memorial wall, although it is not known whether all of them were killed in battles on the territory of Ukraine.
DPRK is fighting on the side of russia against Ukraine - What is known
The first North Korean troops arrived in the Kursk Oblast in October 2024, and in March 2025, Pyongyang sent another 3,000 soldiers. In April, russia officially recognized their participation in the war for the first time, and the DPRK confirmed this.
According to Seoul, out of 15,000 DPRK soldiers, about 4,700 have already been lost, 600 of them have been killed. In addition to manpower, Pyongyang supplies Moscow with ammunition and missiles: dozens of ballistic missiles, up to 6 million shells and plans to transfer another 150 missiles in 2025. Ukrainian intelligence predicts that the DPRK may increase the contingent to 30,000 soldiers.
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