North Korea has opened a memorial museum for soldiers killed fighting alongside Russia in the war against Ukraine. At the opening ceremony in Pyongyang, North Korean and Russian leaders emphasized their closer military cooperation.
Luka Geets
Journalist at HLN
Source: AP
According to North Korea’s state agency KCNA, the ceremony took place on Sunday, exactly one year after a military operation to “liberate” the Russian border region of Kursk was completed. North Korea and Russia said in April 2025 that their forces had fought together to repel a Ukrainian invasion of that region.
Leader Kim Jong-un attended the ceremony together with high-ranking Russian guests, including Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin and Defense Minister Andrei Belusov.
During the ceremony, Kim threw dirt over the remains of a fallen soldier and laid flowers on other bodies that had already laid out in a funeral hall. Afterwards, Kim and the Russian delegation wrote a message in the guestbook.
In a speech, Kim called the fallen soldiers an enduring symbol of the “heroism of the Korean people.” He praised North Korean and Russian forces for thwarting what he called a US-led Western “hegemonic plot and military adventurism” on the Russian-Ukrainian front.
Thousands of North Korean soldiers deployed
North Korea and Russia have never disclosed exactly how many North Korean soldiers were sent to the front. South Korean intelligence previously estimated that Pyongyang had deployed about 15,000 soldiers, of whom about 2,000 were believed to have been killed.
During a separate meeting with Defense Minister Belusov, Kim reportedly said North Korea would fully support Russia in defending its “sovereignty and security interests,” KCNA reported. According to the Russian news agency Tass, Belusov announced that Moscow is willing to sign a military cooperation plan with North Korea for the period 2027-2031.
“Symbol of friendship”
In a letter to Kim read by Volodin, Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote that the museum will be “a clear symbol of friendship and solidarity” between the two countries. He said he is confident that Russia and North Korea will further strengthen their strategic partnership.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kim has focused his foreign policy strongly on Moscow. North Korea supplied troops and conventional weapons to Russia, according to Western and South Korean sources. In return, Pyongyang would receive economic aid and other support.
The United States, South Korea and their allies fear that Russia could in turn transfer advanced technology that could help North Korea improve its nuclear and missile programs.
Learning experience on the battlefield
Analysts say North Korean soldiers were initially vulnerable to drone and artillery attacks due to their lack of combat experience and unfamiliarity with the terrain. However, Ukrainian military and intelligence services say the troops gradually gained valuable combat experience and played an important role in Russia’s strategy to overwhelm Ukraine with large numbers of soldiers in the battle for Kursk.
