North Korea has continued its surprising level of public acknowledgement of troop deaths in the Russia-Ukraine war, where it has maintained some 10,000 or more troops in support of Moscow. Starting last summer North Korea began issuing footage of coffins of slain DPRK troops being flown into Pyongyang, with Kim Jong Un in attendance.
Now the 'pariah' nation long hated by Washington is taking publicizing its Russia operation a big step further, having newly opened a memorial museum in Pyongyang for its soldiers killed in the conflict.
What is called the Memorial Museum of Combat Feats at the Overseas Military Operations has been formally opened in an inaugural ceremony on Sunday. The occasion fell on the one-year anniversary of the two countries having liberated Russia’s Kursk border region from a Ukrainian incursion.
State-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) confirmed that Kim Jong Un attended the event along with senior Russian officials, including State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin and Defense Minister Andrei Belousov.
South Korea’s intelligence agency some 2,000 North Korean troops have been killed in the operation, out of some 15,000 total; however, neither Moscow nor Pyongyang have issued any official figures.
In a speech by Kim during the ceremony, he declared that the fallen troops would remain "a symbol of the Korean people’s heroism" and would support "a victorious march by the Korean and Russian people."
He also as expected lashed out at the United States for imperialist wars, charging that Washington and its allies are pursuing a "hegemonic plot and military adventurism" on the Russia-Ukraine front.
Back in April, President Putin released a statement saying, "The Russian people will never forget the heroism of the Korean special forces. We will always honor the Korean heroes who gave their lives for Russia and for our shared freedom, alongside their brothers-in-arms from the Russian Federation."
Eventually, Pyongyang will want Russia to return the favor as part of the two countries' deepened defense pact. There's always the potential for renewed conflict on the Korean peninsula - and potential presence of Russia troops in the north would certainly complicate things, also given the permanent American bases in South Korea.
Ukraine has meanwhile long bitterly complained about the foreign contingencies helping Russia, and in previously claimed that North Korea could send up to 30,000 - though there's been little evidence of such a high figure.