Pyongyang, North Korea – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has publicly confirmed and praised a battlefield policy that encourages soldiers to commit suicide rather than be captured, highlighting the extreme measures demanded of North Korean forces deployed in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
In a speech delivered in late April 2026 at the inauguration of a memorial in Pyongyang honoring fallen North Korean soldiers, Kim lauded troops who chose “self-blasting” and suicide attacks to avoid capture. According to North Korea’s state media KCNA, Kim described soldiers who “unhesitatingly opted for self-blasting, suicide attack” or took “the path of self-destruction and suicide to defend great honour” as heroes.
The event unveiled sculptures and memorials for the war dead and was attended by Russian officials and families of the deceased. It marked the first explicit public endorsement by Kim of a doctrine that had previously been reported through intelligence assessments, defector testimonies, and battlefield accounts.
North Korea has sent thousands of troops — estimates range between 10,000 and 14,000 — to support Russian forces, particularly in the Kursk region. Ukrainian officials, Western intelligence, and independent reports have documented multiple incidents in which North Korean soldiers detonated grenades or explosives when wounded or surrounded, preventing capture by Ukrainian forces.
Kim framed the policy as a matter of national and military honor, consistent with the North Korean regime’s long-standing emphasis on absolute loyalty and the avoidance of any perceived humiliation. State media reports have portrayed the soldiers’ actions as exemplary sacrifices in the “sacred war” alongside Russia.
Casualties among North Korean troops have been significant, though neither Pyongyang nor Moscow has released official figures. The deployment represents a deepening military partnership between the two nations, with North Korea providing both manpower and munitions to support Russia’s war effort.
This latest statement from Kim underscores the high human cost and ideological rigidity embedded in North Korea’s contribution to the conflict in Ukraine.
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