Kim Jong-un holds ceremony to welcome North Korean soldiers home from fighting for Russia

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un held a ceremony in the capital Pyongyang to award state honours to soldiers who returned from combat in Ukraine and to mourn those killed, state media said on Friday.

The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim awarded state “hero” titles to commanders and soldiers who returned after fighting alongside Russian forces in the Kursk border region.

He also placed medals beside the portraits of fallen North Korean troops, described by state media as “martyrs.”

“The participants of overseas operations, through their steadfast struggle and noble sacrifice, achieved great feats that will be remembered in history forever,” Kim said in a speech.

According to South Korean assessments, North Korea has sent around 15,000 troops to Russia since last autumn and supplied large quantities of military equipment, including artillery and ballistic missiles, in support of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Kim has also agreed to send thousands of military construction workers and deminers to Kursk, a deployment South Korean intelligence believes could happen soon.

South Korean officials have expressed concern that North Korea could receive badly needed economic aid and advanced military technologies in exchange for its war support.

They fear that could enhance the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear weapons programme. Experts say North Korea's military would also obtain valuable combat experiences from the war.

Deepening ties with Putin

Last week, Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call to discuss their deepening ties and efforts against Ukraine, according to both countries' state media.

Putin had reportedly praised the “bravery, heroism and self-sacrificing spirit” displayed by North Korean troops as they fought with Russian forces to repel the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk.

The call took place ahead of Putin's meeting with US President Donald Trump in Alaska. Russia's TASS state news agency reported that Putin had also shared information with Kim about the talks. The North Korean reports did not mention the Trump meeting.

Kim told Putin that Pyongyang will fully support “all measures to be taken by the Russian leadership in the future, too,” as they discussed advancing ties in “all fields” under a strategic partnership agreement they signed during a summit last year, KCNA said.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Kim has made Moscow the priority of his foreign policy as he aims to break out of diplomatic isolation and expand relations with countries confronting Washington.

His government has dismissed Washington and Seoul’s stated desires to restart diplomacy aimed at defusing the North’s nuclear programme, which derailed in 2019 following a collapsed summit with Trump during his first term.

South Korea’s new liberal President Lee Jae Myung has pushed to revive dialogue between the Koreas since taking office in June. He's extended olive branches like ending cross-border propaganda broadcasts that irritate Pyongyang.

But Kim's powerful sister Kim Yo-jong this week again taunted South Korean efforts to improve ties, saying that her country will never accept Seoul as a diplomatic partner.

With its alignment with Russia deepening, North Korea has also become more vocal in international affairs beyond the Korean Peninsula, issuing statements on conflicts in the Middle East and issues related to the Taiwan Strait.