North Korean troops helped repel a large-scale Ukrainian incursion in the region last year
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited the construction site of the Memorial Museum of Combat Feats at Overseas Military Operations, dedicated to troops who took part in the operation to liberate Kursk Region, Russia.
Last spring, North Korean troops, acting under the June 2024 Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty, helped Russian forces repel a large-scale Ukrainian incursion into the region.
In April 2025, the Russian military reported that Ukrainian forces were fully expelled, acknowledging the role of North Korean troops for the first time, without disclosing the numbers. In August, Kim announced plans to build a museum in Pyongyang to honor the soldiers killed in the operation.
Images released by KCNA on Friday show Kim inspecting a large memorial complex in a monumental North Korean style, centered on a Memorial Wall.
The exterior of the museum building is adorned with high-relief bronze sculptures of North Korean soldiers in modern combat gear.
A structured burial ground with rows of concrete gravestones lies behind the museum. Construction appears to be near completion.
During the inspection, Kim urged the builders “to deeply cherish the profound feelings of respect” for the fallen and make the museum “a sacred monument… glorified eternally as a symbol of the feats and immortality of the fallen fighters.”
He said the soldiers’ “matchless bravery and mass heroism” must be “etched in history as a banner of invincibility,” KCNA reported.
In late December, Kim told Russian President Vladimir Putin that bilateral ties have been strengthened by “sharing blood” on the Ukraine frontline, calling the relationship a “precious common asset” that must be preserved “for generations to come.”
Putin thanked Pyongyang for its military assistance in Kursk, and said the “heroic entry” of North Korean troops and their combat engineers proved the “invincible friendship” between the two peoples.
The Russian authorities have praised the North Koreans’ role in the Kursk operation and vowed to erect a monument in Moscow to those who died. The late Russian ambassador to North Korea, Aleksandr Matsegora, said monuments could also be erected in Kursk Region, with streets named after the fallen.
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