Pyongyang, North Korea – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un offered condolences to family members of North Korean soldiers deployed to Russia and killed during the war with Ukraine.
This took place in a ceremony honoring and awarding medals to members of the Foreign Operations Service, today, Saturday.
The event came days before Kim traveled to China.
He will attend a major military parade next Wednesday alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Friday, Kim attended the second ceremony honoring soldiers who participated in the Russian-Ukrainian war.
caught Putin’s attention
Experts say that by holding such a ceremony, North Korea appears to have wanted to highlight the sacrifice of North Korean forces during the war.
The aim is to draw Putin’s attention ahead of his potential summit with Kim in China.
The honoring ceremony was held about a week after the Korean Central News Agency reported the first such ceremony.
Pictures published by state media showed Kim honoring the dead.
He placed championship medals next to pictures of 101 soldiers killed while fighting alongside Russian forces in Kursk Province.
“To all the families of the martyrs, I once again express my regret for failing to save the precious lives of our officers and soldiers who fell on the battlefields of a foreign land,” Kim said.
“I am very sad that I was not able to bring them back here alive,” he added.
