North Korea had sent troops to clear mines in Russia’s Kursk region earlier this year, its leader Kim Jong Un said, a rare acceptance of Pyongyang of giving such deadly tasks to its deployed soldiers.
AFP quoted South Korean and Western intelligence agencies saying North Korea has sent thousands of troops to support Russia’s nearly four-year invasion of Ukraine.
The news agency quoted analysts saying Russia is giving North Korea financial aid, military technology, food and energy supplies in return, allowing the diplomatically isolated nation to sidestep tough international sanctions on its nuclear and missile programmes.
In a speech carried out by the state media on Saturday, Kim lauded the return of an engineering regiment and said they wrote “letters to their hometowns and villages at breaks of the mine-clearing hours”.
KCNA quoted Kim saying that nine members of the regiment died during the 120-day deployment that started in August. He awarded the deceased state honours to “add eternal lustre” to their bravery.
“All of you, both officers and soldiers, displayed mass heroism overcoming unimaginable mental and physical burdens almost every day,” he said.
He further said the troops had been able to “work a miracle of turning a vast area of danger zone into a safe and secure one in a matter of less than three months”.
In the images released by KCNA showed a smiling Kim embracing returned soldiers, some of whom appeared injured and in wheelchairs, at the ceremony in Pyongyang on Friday, AFP reported.
The North Korean leader also mentioned the “pain of waiting for one hundred and twenty days in which he had never forgotten the beloved sons even for a moment.”
