◆ Reports Spreading That "Many Soldiers Died in Russia"
—— Did the platoon leader know how many soldiers had been deployed to Russia, or how many had been killed?
He was asked, but said he didn't know. However, residents now widely believe that far more soldiers actually died in combat than what has been conveyed through television.
"You probably already know this on your side, but families of soldiers killed in action are reportedly being relocated to Pyongyang and given Pyongyang residency. I heard that four families from an inminban [neighborhood watch unit] in Kilju County, North Hamgyong Province, were moved to Pyongyang. So many families are being relocated that people have come to understand that a very large number of soldiers must have died in Russia."
◆ The Kim Jong-un Regime's Drive to Create New Heroes
The Kim Jong-un regime began deploying troops to Russia — which continues its invasion of Ukraine — around October 2024. The South Korean government estimates that more than 15,000 soldiers have been sent so far, with casualties reaching around 2,000. The North Korean government has not disclosed the scale of the deployment or the number of casualties. In August of last year, Korean Central Television broadcast footage of Kim Jong-un pinning medals onto portraits believed to be of fallen soldiers, but only 101 portraits appeared.
In North Korea, soldiers who fought bravely during the anti-Japanese struggle and the Korean War have long been celebrated as heroes, with their valor and deep loyalty to the supreme leader taught and promoted in the military and in schools. But those battles belong to the distant past and lack a sense of immediacy. Since around last summer, the Kim Jong-un regime has been investing significant effort in building a new generation of "heroes" out of soldiers who died fighting in Russia.
Part 2 will report on the reality of combat veterans touring schools to provide ideological education to students.
※ ASIAPRESS communicates with its reporting partners through Chinese cell phones smuggled into North Korea.
