SEOUL, Jan 6 (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter Zhou Ae visited a monument built for North Korean servicemen who died in overseas battles on Monday, the Korean Central News Agency reported on Tuesday.
Under a mutual defense agreement with Russia, North Korea sent about 14,000 troops to Ukraine in 2024 to fight alongside Russian forces, and more than 6,000 of them died in Ukraine, according to South Korean, Ukrainian and Western sources.
King described the dead soldiers as “heroes… who sacrificed themselves without hesitation” and said “no one in the world could defeat such an army that was absolutely loyal to the party’s orders”.
Photos taken by the Korean Central News Agency showed that he and Zhu Ai participated in a tree planting event at the memorial hall. Zhu Ai was wearing a red scarf and shoveling soil with his father.
Meanwhile, a photo exhibition detailing North Korea’s progress under Kim Jong Un opened in Pyongyang as the country prepares for an important upcoming party congress, KCNA said.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Daniel Wallis)