North Korean leader Kim Jong-un touted a newly built street of homes for families of soldiers killed supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine, state media reported yesterday, with photographs showing him accompanied by his daughter.
North Korea has deployed thousands of troops to fight for Russia, according to South Korean and Western intelligence agencies, and Seoul has estimated that about 2,000 have been killed.
North Korea is receiving financial aid, military technology, and food and energy supplies from Russia in return, analysts said.
Photo: Korean Central News Agency via EPA
Pyongyang in the past few month has intensified propaganda glorifying troops deployed to fight in Russia’s war against Ukraine, such as establishing a memorial wall and building a museum, which analysts said is an effort to bolster internal unity and curb potential public discontent.
“The new street has been built thanks to the ardent desire of our motherland that wishes that ... its excellent sons, who defended the most sacred things by sacrificing their most valuable things, will live forever,” Kim said in a speech released by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Yesterday’s report did not mention Russia, but Kim last week pledged to “unconditionally support” all of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s policies and decisions.
Photo: AFP
“Before their death, the heroic martyrs must have pictured in their mind’s eye their dear families living in the ever-prospering country,” Kim added.
Photos released by KCNA show Kim touring the new homes built for the families on Saeppyol Street, alongside his teenage daughter, believed to be named Kim Ju-ae, widely viewed as his heir apparent.
The South Korean National Intelligence Service last week said that she had been clearly “designated as a successor,” citing her participation in high-profile events with her father.
One photo shows Kim Jong-un speaking with what appeared to be the family members of a fallen soldier on a sofa, his daughter standing behind them.
Other photos show families checking the utilities in their new apartments.
The timing of the street inauguration is a “highly calculated political move to justify its soldier deployment” ahead of the party congress, Korea Institute for National Unification analyst Hong Min said.
“It visualizing the state providing concrete compensation to the families of fallen soldiers ... as a symbolic showcase,” he said.
Additional reporting by AP
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS