North’s Kim makes rare acknowledgement of country’s military casualties in Kursk region

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said on December 12 that while there had been “the heartrending loss of nine lives,” he was grateful that all commanders and soldiers of an engineering regiment deployed to Russia’s Kursk region had returned safely, marking a rare public acknowledgment of casualties among North Korean troops sent overseas.

Kim’s unusual reference to casualties from the Russia deployment has been interpreted by analysts as a signal that Pyongyang intends to continue sending troops abroad, particularly to Russia.

Kim made the remarks at a welcoming ceremony held the previous day at the April 25 House of Culture square in Pyongyang for the “528th Regiment of Engineers,” according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on December 13.

He said the regiment, which was formed on May 28 and deployed in early August, “left for the Kursk region of the Russian Federation, which your comrades-in-arms had retaken at the cost of their lives, and you achieved brilliant results in the course of performing your combat tasks there.” The regiment had been dispatched to Kursk for missions such as mine clearance and had recently returned to North Korea.

Experts say Kim’s decision to mention the number of casualties at the welcoming ceremony appears intended to downplay the risks and domestic discontent associated with overseas deployments by highlighting an engineering unit that suffered relatively fewer losses.

Kim praised the regiment, saying it had achieved “a miracle of turning a vast area of danger zone into a safe and secure one in a matter of less than three months.” He added that the regiment’s achievements were “not feats performed by a few well-trained fighters but the fruition of mass heroism displayed by all the officers and soldiers.”

Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said Kim’s reference to the feats of special operations forces of the Korean People’s Army and linking them to the engineering unit suggested that the mission “was not a simple construction task, but part of a strategic, high-difficulty military operation.”

Some analysts also see the remarks as reflecting Kim’s intention to continue deploying engineering units focused on postwar reconstruction. They argue the move reflects Pyongyang’s anxiety that an end to the Russia-Ukraine war could alter North Korea–Russia relations.

Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies, said the comments amounted to an indirect expression of North Korea’s willingness to participate in Russia’s reconstruction even after the war ends, while also sending a message that North Korea’s sacrifices should not be forgotten.

BY SHIM SEOK-YONG [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]