On Friday, Kim greeted the families of the soldiers and expressed regret that he could not save the valuable lives of the fallen who sacrificed themselves in defense of the country’s honor, the state news agency KCNA reported.
The heroic exploits of the soldiers and officers were possible thanks to the strength and courage given to them by their families, who are the most tenacious, patriotic, and just people in the world, Kim told parents, wives, and children, according to KCNA.
“They didn’t even write me a short letter, but I think they entrusted me to their families, including those dear children,” Kim said.
They will be given a beautiful life in the country defended at the expense of the lives of martyrs, he said.
North Korean state television showed Kim doing a deep reverence for his relatives, who appeared to be moved at the event.
The meeting was the latest tribute to troops suffering numerous casualties in the Russian Kursk region, bordering Ukraine, after Kim and Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, acknowledged the deployment in April after months of silence.
State television aired a 25-minute documentary on Saturday that included images of soldiers allegedly participating in the “Operation Liberation of Kursk” to expel Ukrainian troops from the Russian region bordering Ukraine.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the images showing North Korean troops taking part in fighting.
The documentary claims Kim decided to deploy troops to Russia last August, revealing for the first time that the decision came two months after he and Putin signed a security treaty that included a mutual defense pact.
Kim will meet with Putin in China in a military parade commemorating Japan’s surrender in World War II. It will be their third meeting in two years, having drastically strengthened their military alliance.
Neither country has publicly revealed the scale of the deployment or casualties suffered by North Korean troops. According to the South Korean intelligence agency, about 600 soldiers have died from a total deployment of 15,000.
Western intelligence estimates that the dead have surpassed 6,000.
About The Author
