Overview

• State television broadcast Kim Jong-un greeting at least twenty coffins and paying respects before a gallery of fallen soldiers’ portraits.
• South Korea’s Yonhap reported roughly 101 portraits on display, while KCNA did not disclose overall losses.
• Seoul’s intelligence has estimated about 15,000 North Korean personnel deployed with roughly 600 killed and 4,000 wounded, and the MI6 chief has suggested around 6,000 total casualties.
• Vladimir Putin and senior Russian commanders have publicly lauded North Korean troops’ role in the Kursk fighting, and Putin sent a recent letter of thanks.
• Military ties remain active after last year’s assistance pact, with Seoul citing conventional arms and about five million rounds sent to Russia and North Korea signaling plans to dispatch demining and fortification units, as concerns grow in Seoul over the return of combat-experienced soldiers.