North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a welcome ceremony for a unit of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) after their return home from completing tasks in Russia, the state news agency KCNA reported on Saturday.
In a speech broadcast by KCNA, Kim praised the officers and soldiers of the 528th Engineer Regiment of the KPA for “heroic conduct” and “great heroism” in carrying out orders from the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea during a 120-day deployment abroad.
Videos released by North Korea showed soldiers disembarking from an aircraft, Kim embracing a soldier in a wheelchair, and troops and officials gathered to welcome the returning unit.
KCNA stated that the unit was deployed in early August and carried out combat and engineering tasks in the Kursk region of Russia during the Moscow-Ukraine conflict.
Last month, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said North Korean troops had helped repel a major Ukrainian incursion in western Kursk and were now playing a key role in mine clearance operations.
According to a mutual defense pact, North Korea sent around 14,000 soldiers to fight alongside Russia in Kursk last year, with over 6,000 killed, according to South Korean, Ukrainian, and Western sources.
Kim stated that nine soldiers were killed during the mission, describing their deaths as “losses that break the heart,” and announced that the regiment would be honored with the Order of Freedom and Independence.
The welcome ceremony was held on Friday in Pyongyang and attended by high-ranking military officials, party leaders, soldiers’ families, and large crowds, KCNA reported.
In his speech, Kim said the regiment had cleared dangerous areas under combat conditions and demonstrated “absolute loyalty” to the party and state. He also praised political indoctrination, discipline, and unity among the troops, calling their performance a model for the armed forces.
North Korea has openly honored its troops who fought for Russia in the Ukraine war. In August, Kim praised them in a meeting with officers involved in overseas operations, and state media earlier showed him covering coffins with the national flag, seemingly for the repatriation of soldiers killed alongside Russian forces.
