North Korea Opens Memorial Museum For Troops Killed In Russia-ukraine War

SEOUL — North Korea has opened a memorial depository for its soldiers killed while fighting for Russia against Ukraine, pinch apical leaders of North Korea and Russia pledging a push for greater cooperation.

In April 2025, North Korea and Russia announced that their soldiers fought together to repel a Ukraine incursion into Russia’s Kursk separator region. The 2 countries haven’t disclosed precisely really galore North Koreans soldiers were deployed, but South Korea’s intelligence work estimated past twelvemonth that North Korea sent 15,000 troops and 2,000 of them were killed.

The North’s Korean Central News Agency reported Monday nan museum’s inaugural ceremonial was held successful Pyongyang connected Sunday to people nan first day of nan extremity of an cognition to liberate nan Kursk region. KCNA said leader Kim Jong Un attended nan ceremonial on pinch apical visiting Russian officials, including Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of nan State Duma, and Defense Minister Andrei Beloussov.

During nan ceremony, Kim threw ungraded complete nan remains of 1 dormant worker and laid flowers earlier others whose bodies were already placed successful a mortuary, earlier he and Volodin and Beloussov near messages successful a impermanent book, according to KCNA.

In a speech, Kim said nan spirits of dormant North Korean soldiers will stay arsenic “a awesome of nan Korean people’s heroism” and support “a victorious march by nan Korean and Russian people.” He praised nan North Korean and Russian forces for thwarting what he called a U.S.-led Western “hegemonic crippled and subject adventurism” connected nan Russian-Ukraine front.

Meeting pinch Beloussov separately, Kim said North Korea will afloat support nan Russian argumentation of defending its sovereignty and information interests, KCNA reported. Russia’s authorities news agency, Tass, cited Beloussov arsenic telling Kim that Russia was fresh to motion a Russian-North Korean subject practice scheme for nan 2027-2031 period.

In a missive to Kim publication by Volodin during nan ceremony, Russian President Vladimir Putin said nan depository “will undoubtedly beryllium a clear awesome of nan relationship and solidarity” betwixt nan 2 countries. Putin said he was convinced that nan 2 countries would proceed to fortify their broad strategical partnership, according to KCNA.

Since Russia’s full-scale penetration of Ukraine successful 2022, Kim has made Moscow nan privilege of his overseas argumentation by supplying troops and accepted weapons. In return, North Korea was believed to person received economical and different assistance from Russia. South Korea, nan U.S. and their partners interest Russia whitethorn transportation high-tech technologies that tin heighten North Korea’s atomic and rocket programs.

Experts opportunity North Korean troops sent to nan warfare earlier became easy targets for drone and artillery attacks owed to their deficiency of combat acquisition and unfamiliarity pinch nan terrain. But Ukrainian subject and intelligence officials person assessed that nan North Koreans were gaining important battlefield acquisition and were cardinal to Russia’s strategy of overwhelming Ukraine by throwing ample numbers of soldiers into nan conflict for Kursk.

Kim writes for nan Associated Press. AP writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report.