Overview
- KCNA reported that Kim Jong Un led a welcome ceremony on Friday for the 528th Engineering Regiment returning from a four‑month assignment in Russia’s Kursk region.
- North Korea said nine members of the unit died during the mission and were posthumously awarded the title Hero of the DPRK along with other honors.
- Russian Defence Ministry media in November published photographs that documented North Korean personnel conducting demining work around Kursk.
- Russia announced in June the deployment of 1,000 engineer troops and about 5,000 North Korean workers to support reconstruction in the retaken area.
- South Korean intelligence estimates roughly 10,000 North Korean soldiers have taken part in the war with about 2,000 killed, while a Ukrainian intelligence report cited by CNN alleges Pyongyang may prepare to send up to 30,000 more.