Pyongyang, North Korea – December 14, 2025 : North Korea has openly acknowledged its military involvement in support of Russia’s war against Ukraine, as state media showcased a grand welcoming ceremony in Pyongyang for troops returning from Russia, personally led by Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.
According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the ceremony—held on Friday, December 12, and reported on December 13–14, 2025—honored members of the 528th Regiment of Engineers of the Korean People’s Army (KPA), who had completed a 120-day overseas deployment in Russia’s Kursk region.
The combat engineers were dispatched in early August 2025 to conduct mine-clearing and battlefield engineering operations in areas affected by intense fighting following Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk. Kim Jong Un praised the unit for transforming “danger zones into safe ones” under extreme combat conditions, describing their actions as acts of “mass heroism” and “absolute loyalty” to the ruling Workers’ Party.
Footage released by KCNA and state broadcaster KRT showed emotional scenes, including Kim embracing returning soldiers—some wounded and in wheelchairs—laying white chrysanthemums before portraits of fallen troops, and kneeling in tribute. Kim called the deaths of nine soldiers a “heartrending loss,” while expressing relief that the majority of the unit returned safely.
The nine deceased soldiers were posthumously awarded North Korea’s highest honor, the Hero of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, along with additional state medals. The entire regiment received the Order of Freedom and Independence, one of the country’s top collective military honors.
International intelligence assessments from Western, South Korean, and Ukrainian sources estimate that 14,000 to 15,000 North Korean troops have been deployed overall to assist Russia, primarily in the Kursk region. Earlier deployments reportedly included combat infantry units that suffered heavy casualties, with some estimates citing over 6,000 killed or wounded. The returning engineers represent a specialized contingent focused on post-combat stabilization after Russian forces—supported by North Korean troops—pushed back Ukrainian advances.
Analysts say the highly publicized ceremony serves multiple purposes: bolstering domestic morale, reinforcing the deepening Pyongyang–Moscow alliance, and signaling North Korea’s readiness to export military support abroad in exchange for Russian assistance, including food supplies, fuel, and advanced military technology, despite ongoing international sanctions.
