<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At the unveiling of a towering bronze sculpture of </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/north-korea" rel="" target="" title="North Korean"><span>North Korean</span></a><span> and </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/russia" rel="" target="" title="Russian"><span>Russian</span></a><span> soldiers in combat, </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/kim-jong-un" rel="" target="" title="Kim Jong-Un"><span>Kim Jong-Un</span></a><span> praised troops who chose death over capture while fighting in </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/ukraine" rel="" target="" title="Ukraine"><span>Ukraine</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It was a striking and unusually explicit acknowledgment of Pyongyang's long-suspected battlefield doctrine.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>According to a transcript published by North Korean state media KCNA, Kim declared that those who "unhesitatingly opted for self-blasting" and suicide attacks had shown the highest form of loyalty.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/tighter-regulatory-controls-of-nicotine-pouches-needed-to-avoid-harm/6090c05f-51b8-4270-87ec-1845e4436c24" rel="" target="" title="Health experts call for tighter regulation on nicotine pouches targeting youth and being sold online, with 'minimal friction'"><strong><span>Health experts call for tighter regulation on nicotine pouches targeting youth and being sold online, with 'minimal friction'</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A reference to soldiers throwing themselves on grenades or detonating explosives rather than risk being taken prisoner.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Kim made the remarks at the opening of a vast new memorial complex on the outskirts of the capital, walking past rows of freshly laid graves before kneeling to place soil into an open burial site.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Inside, bronze statuary and black marble walls etched with names surround displays of soldiers' remains, personal relics and captured military equipment.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/kim-jong-un-praises-soldier-suicides-signals-deepening-role-in-russias-war/638ac7b7-8a6a-41fe-9057-388dababe806" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The site, part cemetery and part museum, is the centrepiece of a broader campaign to frame the deaths of North Korean soldiers in Russia's war on its neighbour as acts of heroism and patriotic sacrifice.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>For months, North Korean state media has offered vivid and often graphic accounts of how those soldiers died.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/kumanjayi-little-baby-death-communitys-grief-alice-springs/b8655674-be34-43b4-a340-05a86052d6be"><strong><span>Family's message after five-year-old murdered</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Previous reporting has described troops detonating grenades as they were surrounded, shouting for comrades to stay back before triggering the blast, or killing themselves after being wounded to avoid capture.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In one account, soldiers embraced each other before setting off explosives.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>For years, intelligence agencies, Ukrainian officials, and defectors have reported that North Korean soldiers were expected to take their own lives rather than be captured.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Pyongyang never confirmed it. Now the doctrine is being endorsed at the highest level, publicly at a site built to honour the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/war" rel="" target="" title="war"><span>war</span></a><span> dead.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The memorial offers one of the clearest indications yet of the scale of North Korea's involvement in Russia's war.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Analysis by NK News found that two black marble walls inside the complex list 2288 names of soldiers believed to have died in combat, alongside 271 graves and more than 1700 compartments for cremated remains.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The complex has expanded walls and space for future graves, suggesting this is not a closed chapter.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>South Korean and Western officials estimate more than 10,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia's Kursk region, with thousands killed or wounded, losses North Korea has not admitted so openly until now.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Unveiled on the first anniversary of Russia's declaration of victory in Kursk, with senior Moscow officials in attendance and a message from Russian president </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/vladimir-putin" rel="" target="" title="Vladimir Putin"><span>Vladimir Putin</span></a><span> read aloud.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/man-charged-with-allegedly-pointing-laser-at-polair/20480202-a9c4-41c8-a47d-0801401d210b" target="" title="Man, 64, charged with allegedly pointing laser at police aircraft"><strong><span>Man, 64, charged with allegedly pointing laser at police aircraft</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The complex also displays captured military equipment, including what appear to be </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/germany" rel="" target="" title="German"><span>German</span></a><span> Leopard tanks, American Abrams tanks and other NATO-origin systems, though analysts question whether North Korean forces obtained them directly.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A small number of North Korean soldiers are known to have been captured alive by Ukrainian forces.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Some have said they did not know they would be sent into combat until shortly before deployment, and at least one expressed regret, not for being captured, but for failing to take his own life.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Their existence presents a problem for Pyongyang. Under international law, prisoners of war are typically repatriated at the end of hostilities.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>However, human rights advocates warn that returning them to North Korea could expose them to severe punishment.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Officials in </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/south-korea" rel="" target="" title="South Korea"><span>South Korea</span></a><span> have said they would accept any soldiers who seek to defect, setting up a legal and diplomatic dilemma that could outlast the fighting itself.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><strong><em><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/8x987w" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>ticking this box here</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Sign up to</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></em></strong></a></li></ul></div></div>