Mick Hartley

From the Daily NK:

A memorial for the war in Ukraine is under construction in the Hwasong district of Pyongyang. Kim Jong Un broke ground on the project on Oct. 23.

A recent review of high-resolution satellite imagery shows that over the past month a three-story structure has already gone up on the 2.6-hectare lot. Work is also moving ahead on a cemetery on the grounds that includes a statue, memorial walls, an arched entrance, and a perimeter wall.

The war memorial and cemetery are supposed to be completed early next year, and the families of soldiers who have died in the fighting will be prioritized for openings at high-rise apartments on Ryomyong Street.

That’s nice. They may have lost a son, these families, but they’ve been prioritised for a high-rise apartment. Swings and roundabouts.

While the precise number of war dead hasn’t been disclosed, South Korean intelligence assets including the National Intelligence Service (NIS) estimate that North Korea deployed around 15,000 troops to the Ukraine war in two batches and that around 4,700 of those troops have been killed or injured….

Close to the memorial building under construction is the Kumsusan Guest House, and the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun is just across the Hapjang River.

The Kumsusan Guest House, a lodging for VIPs, was hastily built before Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Pyongyang in 2019. The Kumsusan Palace of the Sun is where the embalmed, unburied bodies of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il lie inside glass cases.

All the memorials to the dead in one district. The graveyard zone.