State-run Korean Central News Agency reported on Saturday that Kim praised the “mass heroism” of the returning 528th Regiment of Engineers of the Korean People’s Army, which had been deployed in Russia’s Kursk region.
By Sodiq Oluwaremilekun
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un embraced injured soldiers in wheelchairs during a ceremony in the capital, Pyongyang, to welcome home troops who had served alongside Russian forces in the war against Ukraine.
State-run Korean Central News Agency reported on Saturday that Kim praised the “mass heroism” of the returning 528th Regiment of Engineers of the Korean People’s Army, which had been deployed in Russia’s Kursk region.
Kim praised the regiment’s performance during its 120-day overseas deployment, which began in early August and included combat and engineering tasks such as mine clearance in Russia’s Kursk region. Ukrainian forces had infiltrated and occupied parts of the area for months before eventually withdrawing.
“You performed a miracle by turning a vast danger zone into a safe and secure area in less than three months, a task believed to be impossible even over several years,” Kim said, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
He added at Friday’s ceremony: “The armed villains of the West, no matter how advanced their military hardware, cannot match this revolutionary army with its unfathomable spiritual depth.”
The North Korean leader also spoke of the “heartrending loss” of nine members of the regiment and announced that the unit would be
Aawarded the Order of Freedom and Independence. According to KCNA, the fallen soldiers will also be posthumously honoured with the title of Hero of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the country’s official name.
Video footage of the ceremony released by North Korea showed uniformed soldiers disembarking from an aircraft and Kim embracing soldiers in wheelchairs as other troops and officials gathered to welcome them home.
Last month, Russia’s Ministry of Defence confirmed that North Korean forces, who helped repel Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region, were now involved in mine-clearing operations in the area.
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