In a rare show of public grieving, Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, knelt before the portraits of 101 North Korean soldiers killed in Russia’s war against Ukraine and hugged their teary relatives, according to photographs displayed in the country’s state media on Friday.
In a ceremony held in the headquarters of his ruling Workers’ Party in Pyongyang, Mr. Kim awarded medals to troops who fought for Russia, as well as the dead, lionizing them as “great heroes and great patriots” or “martyrs,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said.
Mr. Kim said his “heart ached” because he could only meet the dead soldiers in photos. “As I stand in front of the bereaved families of the fallen soldiers, I don’t know how to express my regret and apologies for not being able to protect their precious young lives,” he said.
By publicly paying tributes to the fallen soldiers and honoring the returning soldiers with government medals, Mr. Kim was trying to lift the morale of his people and justify his decision to send troops to aid Russia’s war against Ukraine, South Korean officials told journalists in a briefing on Friday.
Photos carried in state media showed Mr. Kim placing medals on the lapels of officers and soldiers. One image showed Mr. Kim holding the face of a teary young soldier with both hands and hugging him to his chest.
Mr. Kim knelt on one knee when he looked at one of the photos of the dead soldiers, arranged in three rows on a memorial wall. He also bowed to bereaved family members, hugging the young children of the dead soldiers. Some family members wept. A line of soldiers formed, carrying white chrysanthemums to place before the photos of the dead.
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