Kim Jong-un unveils housing for families of North Koreans killed in Ukraine war

North Korea has said it completed a new housing district in Pyongyang for families of North Korean soldiers killed while fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, the latest effort by leader Kim Jong-un to honour the war dead.State media photos showed Kim walking through the new street – called Saeppyol Street – and visiting the homes of some of the families with his increasingly prominent daughter, believed to be named Kim Ju-ae, as he pledged to repay the “young martyrs” who “sacrificed all to their motherland”.Kim said the new district in the capital’s Hawasong area symbolised the “spirit and sacrifice” of the dead troops, adding that the homes were meant to allow bereaved families to “take pride in their sons and husbands and live happily”.Kim Jong-un and his daughter Kim Ju-ae (back L) visiting the families of fallen soldiers moving into their homes on the new street in Pyongyang, in an image released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency Photograph: KCNA VIA KNS/AFP/Getty ImagesKim said he had pushed to finish the project “even one day earlier” in the hope it might bring “some small comfort” to the troops’ families.In recent months, North Korea has intensified propaganda glorifying troops deployed to fight in Russia’s war against Ukraine, including the unveiling of a new memorial complex in Pyongyang adorned with sculptures of troops. Analysts see it as an effort to bolster internal unity and curb potential public discontent.Kim has sent thousands of troops and large quantities of military equipment, including artillery and missiles, in recent months to fuel Russian president Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine, as the leaders align in the face of their separate confrontations with Washington.Kim Jong-un presiding over the completion ceremony. Photograph: KCNA/ReutersKim last week pledged to “unconditionally support” all of Putin’s policies and decisions.Under a mutual defence pact with Russia, in 2024 North Korea sent about 14,000 soldiers to fight alongside Russian troops in Ukraine, where more than 6,000 of them were killed, according to South Korean, Ukrainian and western sources.Kim embracing people at the ceremony. Photograph: KCNA/ReutersSouth Korea’s National Intelligence Service believes North Korean forces are benefiting from the war by gaining modern combat experience and Russian technical support that could improve the performance of their weapons systems, according to lawmakers who attended last week’s closed-door briefing.The construction of the new street comes as North Korea prepares to open a major ruling party congress later this month, where Kim is expected to announce his major goals in domestic and foreign policy over the next five years and take further steps to tighten his control.Kim Jong-un inspecting the under-construction Memorial Museum of Combat Feats in Pyongyang on Friday. Photograph: KCNA VIA KNS/AFP/Getty ImagesThe timing of the street inauguration is a “highly calculated political move to justify its soldier deployment” ahead of the party congress, said Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification.“It visualises the state providing concrete compensation to the families of fallen soldiers ... as a symbolic showcase,” he said.With Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters