N Korea’s Kim hails ‘ever-victorious’ army’s role in war against Ukraine

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un tells key party meeting that fighting alongside Russia demonstrates the ‘prestige of our army’.Published On 12 Dec 2025North Korea’s Kim Jong Un praised the deployment of his troops in support of Russia’s war against Ukraine and promised to root out “evil practices” among some officials, state media reports.In remarks concluding a key meeting of his ruling party on Thursday, Kim condemned “the wrong ideological viewpoint and inactive and irresponsible work attitude” of some officials, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4South Korean president mulls apology to Northlist 2 of 4South Korea proposes talks with North Korea on military demarcation linelist 3 of 4Top global arms producers’ revenues surge as major wars rage: SIPRI reportlist 4 of 4S Korea, Japan scramble warplanes in response to Russia, China air patrolend of listHe also spoke of “shortcomings and evil practices that must be corrected”, KCNA said on Friday.The North Korean news organisation did not offer any specifics regarding the targets of Kim’s comments, though it did say the ruling party had revealed numerous recent “deviations” in discipline – a euphemism often used to refer to corrupt practices.Wrapping up the three-day meeting, Kim reserved praise for the North Korean soldiers fighting against Ukraine alongside Russia, of whom at least 600 have been killed and thousands more injured in the war, according to South Korean estimates.“Over the past year, various soldiers of our military have participated in overseas military operations to demonstrate the reputation of our military,” KCNA said, quoting Kim.The military deployment in support of Russia “demonstrated to the world the prestige of our army and state as the ever-victorious army and genuine protector of international justice”, Kim added.The North Korean leader also hailed efforts this year in “modernising” his country’s defences in the face of great “global geopolitical and technological changes”.