North Korea’s Kim again consoles bereaved families of troops deployed for Russia-Ukraine war

Seoul, Aug 30 (IANS) North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has consoled bereaved family members of the country’s troops deployed to Russia who were killed during the war with Ukraine in another ceremony to decorate service members for overseas operations, state media reported on Saturday.

The event came days before Kim travels to China to attend a large-scale military parade set for Wednesday alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The North’s leader attended the second ceremony on Friday to award state commendations to soldiers who participated in the war, Yonhap reported, quoting the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

By holding such a ceremony, North Korea seems to have intended to highlight its troops’ sacrifice for the war ahead of Kim’s likely summit with Putin in China, experts said.

The commendation event took place about a week after the KCNA reported on August 22 that the first such ceremony was held in Pyongyang. Photos carried by state media showed Kim putting the country’s hero medals beside the portraits of 101 soldiers who were killed during combat.

During this week’s ceremony, Kim gave the portraits, wrapped in the North’s national flags, of other fallen soldiers to their bereaved family members and held a photo session with them, according to the KCNA.

“To all the bereaved families of the martyrs, I once again express my regret about having failed to save the precious lives of our officers and soldiers who fell on the battlegrounds on a foreign land, as I am anxious that I could not bring them back alive here,” Kim said.

He also disclosed a plan to build a new street in Pyongyang’s Taesong district in memory of the fallen troops’ exploits, labelling it as “Saebyol Street,” which means morning star.

The remains of the “martyrs” will be laid to rest in the best place of the arboretum in front of the street, and a monument for “immortal combat feats” will be erected as well, Kim noted.

The North’s leader said the children left behind by the heroes will be sent to “revolutionary schools” to train them as “staunch and courageous fighters like their fathers,” vowing to take “full responsibility” for them.

Revolutionary schools are special education institutions to train the children of “revolutionists” who sacrificed for the state as candidates for key party officials.

Since October last year, North Korea has provided conventional weapons and around 13,000 troops to support Russia’s war efforts amid deepening bilateral military cooperation.

South Korea’s spy agency said in April that around 600 North Korean soldiers are believed to have been killed during combat, and more than 4,000 North Korean troops have also been injured.

–IANS

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