North Korea grants families rare privileges to temper anger over war dead
Being permitted to move to the capital is a rare honour under the authoritarian rule of Kim Jong-un, and is likely a calculated move to limit criticism of his regime by the relatives of the dead, experts have said.
One analyst also suggested the offer may also be a way of concentrating families and reducing the spread of rumours about the losses that North Korean forces have suffered and the conditions they endured fighting in Vladimir Putin's armies.
A report by the Seoul-based South and North Development Institute claimed that the government of Kim Jong-un is considering granting 'capital residency rights' to families of the war dead after it became apparent that there is a groundswell of public anger over the dispatch of troops to the war against Ukraine.
Quoting sources in the North, the report said the relatives would be given homes in the newly developed suburbs of Songshin and Hwasong.
'Ordinarily, it is an enormous privilege to be able to live in Pyongyang as only the elite in North Korean society are permitted to live there or even enter the city,' said Rah Jong-yil, a former diplomat and senior South Korean intelligence officer.
'But it is also easy to see this as a means of controlling the families,' he added. 'Having these people all in one place means it is easier to stop the rumours spreading around the country and privilege is also something that can be taken away.'
Reports of North Koreans fighting on Russia's behalf date back to October 2024.
Although rumours have been rife in the North for several months, North Korean state-run media only officially reported that troops had been deployed to fight alongside Russian units in Ukraine on April 28.
As many as 15,000 personnel are believed to have been sent to the front, with South Korean intelligence estimating that 600 have been killed and a further 4,100 injured.
Announcing the North Korean contribution to the liberation of Russia's Kursk region after an extended incursion by Ukrainian troops last year, Kim Jong-un said, 'They all fought for justice and are heroes, representatives of the honour of their country'.
'Sense of solidarity'
In a statement, Russia's leader Vladimir Putin expressed his appreciation for the assistance of Pyongyang's forces, saying, 'Our Korean friends acted out of a sense of solidarity, justice and genuine comradeship'.
North Korea has also announced plans to construct a new 'combat honour monument' in Pyongyang.
In another indication that the regime is bracing the public for the consequences of deploying units in Europe, state-run media reported that the Kaesong Disabled Soldiers' Medical Appliances Factory has been 'wonderfully renovated'.
Kim Jong-un 'took benevolent measures' to modernise the factory and expand its production capacity, it added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
a few seconds ago
- The Independent
What happened the one and only time Zelensky and Putin met?
Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky may soon meet Russian president Vladimir Putin again, for the first time since 2019. A summit in Paris six years ago was the first and only time the two presidents ever met, flanked by French president Emmanuel Macron and Germany's then-chancellor Angela Merkel. At the time, Putin and Zelensky were looking to hash out a ceasefire deal for war in Donbas in Ukraine's east, where Russia-backed forces were fighting Ukrainian troops. The two world leaders are now potentially set for another meeting as part of US president Donald Trump's bid to end the devastating Ukraine war. However, this is far from set in stone with Putin's initial suggestion that it could take place in Moscow quickly rejected by the Ukrainian president. What happened in 2019? Ukrainian forces and Russian separatists had been embroiled in conflict in Donbas, in Ukraine's east, since 2014. Zelensky and Putin travelled to Paris in December 2019 for the Normandy Format Summit, a diplomatic forum designed by French, German, Russian and Ukrainian diplomats after the outbreak of conflict. The Ukrainian president had been elected just months earlier in spring that year - his first role in political office - beating former foreign minister Petro Poroshenko to the presidency. The summit in Paris led to progress, but was not groundbreaking. The two sides agreed to implement 'all necessary ceasefire support measures' before the end of 2019 and to release all the prisoners of war. Both sides also expressed their desire to implement the Minsk agreements signed in 2014 and 2015, the first attempt to achieve a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia after Putin's forces rolled into and took over the Crimean peninsula. What did the leaders say about each other? The mood between the pair was chilly at first. There was no public handshake and they are said to have largely avoided eye contact during the meeting. Clean shaven and sporting a suit, 2019 Zelensky cut a strikingly different figure compared to his more familiar appearance now as a war-time leader. After the summit, Putin hailed the talks as an 'important step' towards de-escalation. He expressed what at the time appeared to be cautious hope: "All this gives us the grounds to suppose that the process is developing in the right direction.' Zelensky also hailed the meeting as a 'big step towards peace'. When he was asked by reporters who he believed had emerged victorious from the exchanges with his Russian counterpart, he said: "I don't know who (beat) who. I think it would be appropriate to be diplomatic as we've just started talking. Let's say for now it's a draw." What happened afterwards? Despite a number of prisoner exchanges, the 2019 meeting was not a catalyst for any major long-term change in Russo-Ukrainian relations - and little over two years later Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Several key sticking points remained after the 2019 negotiations. Kyiv continued to demand the withdrawal of Russian-backed troops and a complete ceasefire, with a return of border control to Ukraine. Russia insisted that before Ukraine regained control of its eastern border, local elections should be held in the occupied territories. Putin also demanded that Donbas have a special constitutional status in Ukraine, to give it a degree of autonomy. In January 2022, just weeks before the full-scale Russian invasion, the summit in Paris took place again, but was attended by officials from the same four countries, rather than their leaders. Senior diplomats met in February 2022 in an attempt to prevent a conflict. After the Russian invasion on 24 February, Zelensky said the invasion had 'ruined' the progress made by the Normandy Format.
Economist
2 minutes ago
- Economist
Putin's desire to destroy Western unity rages on
On august 16th, a day after his summit with Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin summoned Russia's grandees to the Kremlin's Hall of the Order of St Catherine. Built in tsarist times to show off the glory of the Russian empire, the hall was the setting for Mr Putin's account of his achievements during the visit to Alaska, a former imperial possession. He praised Mr Trump's 'sincerity' and efforts to end the war. 'It moves us closer to making necessary decisions,' he said.
Telegraph
4 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Putin buys new motorbike for Alaskan man who complained about sanctions
Vladimir Putin bought a brand new Russian motorbike for an Alaskan man who said that his own model was becoming impossible to repair because of US sanctions. Mark Warren was handed the keys to his new Ural motorbike in the car park of an Anchorage hotel, where the Russian delegation was staying during last week's meeting between Putin and Donald Trump. A Russian state television crew had been milling about on the streets of Anchorage when they stopped to admire Mr Warren's rugged Soviet-era bike. Mr Warren complained to the reporters from Russia-1 that repairs to his bike were becoming increasingly costly and new parts near-impossible to obtain because of sanctions on Russia. His motorbike was manufactured by Ural, whose original factory was founded in 1941 in what was then Soviet Russia. 'So for you, if they resolve this conflict here in Alaska, I mean Putin and Trump, it will be good?' the reporter, Valentin Bogdanov, asked him. 'Yes, it will be good,' Mr Warren replied. A few days later, he was handed the keys to a brand new Ural sidecar motorbike. 'I have to say that this is a personal gift from the president of the Russian Federation,' said Andrei Ledenev, an employee at the Russian embassy in Washington, who delivered the gift. In front of a scrum of Russian state TV cameras, Mr Warren looked stunned as he heard about his new benefactor. Mustering only a few words, he nodded and said: 'Very good.' In footage splashed across Russian state media, which framed the gift as a symbol of Putin's generosity and goodwill, Mr Warren then hopped aboard his new bike – with Mr Ledenev perched behind him – to take it for a spin. 'Here's a new ride on the new Ural. A Russian vehicle in Russian America under the shadow of a Russian birch tree,' a Russia-1 correspondent commented, referring to Alaska's history as part of the Russian empire. Mr Warren said: 'Oh, it's night and day. It runs much smoother and is much more enjoyable. I like my old one too, but this one is obviously much better. It's newer, it's more precise in control. I'm speechless, it's amazing. Thank you very much.' Perhaps unbeknown to him, his story appeared in a segment on the flagship Russian channel about how Western sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine have affected ordinary Americans. The motorbikes, known for their distinctive sidecars, were initially developed to be used by the Soviet military during the Second World War on the Eastern Front and later adapted for civilian use. Ural, which is headquartered in Washington State, said that all of its motorbikes were now assembled in Kazakhstan. The company, which denounced Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, pulled all its production out of Russia in March 2022 after it ground to a halt because of an inability to export bikes out of Russia thanks to sanctions.
