According to the state-run [North] Korean Central News Agency, a ceremony marking its completion was held the previous day, attended by the country's leader Kim Jong-un and visiting senior Russian officials including Defense Minister Andrei Belousov and Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of Russia's State Duma, the lower house of parliament.
The memorial's opening coincided with the first anniversary of North Korea's deployment to Russia's Kursk region, with Kim using the occasion to tout the two countries' deepening ties and pledge continued military cooperation against what he called Western "injustice."
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a letter read by Volodin, said the "unmatched combat feats" of North Korean troops "will remain forever in the hearts of all Russians," adding that he was confident the two sides would continue to strengthen their "comprehensive strategic partnership."
North Korea has reportedly sent around 15,000 combat troops and weapons to Russia to assist Moscow's war in Ukraine since the two countries signed a mutual defense pact during Putin's visit to Pyongyang in June 2024.
Thousands of North Korean soldiers, most deployed to Kursk, a southwestern Russian region bordering Ukraine, are believed to have been killed or wounded during the prolonged war. Ukrainian forces seized parts of Kursk in August 2024, but Moscow officially declared the region fully retaken in April the following year, with North Korea claiming its troops played a decisive role in helping Russia regain control of the territory.
Kim, who has promoted the deployment as a symbol of the two countries' alliance, ordered the construction of the memorial last October in Pyongyang's newly developed district of Hwasong.
The memorial houses the remains of fallen soldiers and displays weapons.
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