North Korean state television aired footage showing Kim Jong Un placing a flag on a soldier’s coffin who was reportedly killed while serving with Russian forces in the war with Ukraine. The images, released by Korean Central Television, were reported by South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency and captured the emotional moment of the North Korean leader as he mourned the loss of his troops.
These images were part of a cultural performance held on Sunday at the East Pyongyang Grand Theater, commemorating the one-year anniversary of North Korea’s comprehensive strategic partnership treaty with Russia. The footage showed Kim Jong Un, accompanied by Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, standing beside the coffin, hands pressed on it, and lips tightly closed. The emotional display came as part of the commemoration, emphasizing the close relationship between the two nations.
Other visuals in the broadcast included photos of North Korean soldiers alongside Russian troops, and a bloodstained notebook allegedly recovered from the battlefield in Russia’s Kursk region. The notebook reportedly contained a message that read,