“They blew themselves up.” Kim Jong Un praises soldiers killed in Russia

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un praised soldiers who “blew themselves up” to avoid capture, calling their actions “the height of loyalty,” the BBC reported on Wednesday. South Korean media estimate that the glorification of soldiers killed in Russia during the war with Ukraine is aimed at politically justifying the sending of troops.

– Because they could not live apart from their homeland and were inextricably linked to it by fatethey did not expect any compensation even though they had performed outstanding deeds, nor any reward for their sacrifice by blowing themselves up, Kim said during Sunday's inauguration ceremony of the Foreign Military Operations Memorial Museum.

The ceremony was attended by, among others: Russian Minister of Defense Andrei Belousov and Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Volodin.

Not only the heroes who, without hesitation, decided to commit suicide by blowing themselves up (…) to defend great honor, but also those who fell in the vanguard of the charge cannot be called anything other than soldiers loyal to the Party, patriots, argued Kim, quoted by the government daily Rodong Sinmun.

According to North Korean doctrine, captivity is treason, and the practice of inciting suicide on the front has already been confirmed by South Korean intelligence. based on instructions found on the bodies.

Thousands of victims and a cult of death. The regime builds a myth around losses on the front

As the Japanese agency Kyodo pointed out on Tuesday, citing photos published by North Korean media, on the plaques at the monument to the fallen there are approximately 2.3 thousand. names. According to estimates by Western and South Korean intelligence services, over 6,000 people may have died in clashes with Ukrainian forces. soldiers from North Korea

The South Korean daily “The Korea Herald” assessed on Wednesday that the cult of the fallen directly serves the Pyongyang regime as a justification for sending more troops to fight outside the country.

Under the mutual defense treaty signed in June 2024, North Korea sent, according to Western and South Korean intelligence estimates, approximately 14,000. soldiers to fight Ukrainian forces in the Kursk Oblast in western Russia. Ukrainian troops entered there on August 6, 2024. It was explained then that one of the goals of this offensive was to force the Russians to transfer some of their forces from Donbas in eastern Ukraine.

Krzysztof Pawliszak (PAP)

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