Kim Jong Un Hails North Korean Troops Fighting Abroad, Praises “Invincible Alliance” With Russia
South Korean officials estimate that at least 600 North Korean soldiers have been killed, with thousands more wounded.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has praised his troops deployed abroad for forging what he described as an “invincible alliance” with Russia, signaling Pyongyang’s intent to further deepen its military cooperation with Moscow as the war in Ukraine grinds on.
In a New Year’s message carried Thursday by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim lauded North Korean soldiers fighting in what he called an “alien land,” congratulating them on their “heroic” defense of the nation’s honor and urging them to remain brave. “Behind you are Pyongyang and Moscow,” Kim said, according to KCNA.
North Korea has deployed thousands of troops to support Russia in its nearly four-year invasion of Ukraine, according to South Korean and Western intelligence sources. South Korean officials estimate that at least 600 North Korean soldiers have been killed, with thousands more wounded.
Kim said the soldiers’ deployment had strengthened the “invincible alliance” between North Korea and Russia, calling on them to fight “for the fraternal Russian people.” He also hinted at further overseas military activity in the year ahead, pointing to “remarkable feats you will perform on the overseas battlefields.”
Military experts say Pyongyang’s growing military role reflects a strategic bargain with Moscow. In exchange for manpower, North Korea is believed to be receiving financial assistance, advanced military technology, and vital supplies of food and energy—resources that help sustain Kim’s heavily sanctioned regime.
“Deployments to Russia, as well as overseas military operations or cooperation more broadly, are no longer exceptional but have become embedded as part of official defense policy,” Lim Eul-chul, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University, told AFP.
He added that state media coverage allows Kim to frame the economic and military gains from the deployments as nationalist achievements for domestic audiences.
Kim marked the New Year with a lavish performance and speech at Pyongyang’s May Day Stadium, KCNA reported. Images released by state media showed him accompanied by his wife, Ri Sol Ju, and his daughter Ju Ae, who is widely believed to be his likely successor.
Despite the celebratory tone in Pyongyang, accounts from the battlefield suggest grim conditions for North Korean troops fighting in Europe’s bloodiest conflict in decades.
South Korea’s intelligence service and testimonies from two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces say troops were ordered to kill themselves rather than be taken prisoner.
The two soldiers, captured by Ukraine in January 2025 after being wounded in combat, have reportedly expressed a desire to defect to South Korea—underscoring the human cost behind Pyongyang’s expanding military footprint abroad.