From the Daily NK:
North Korean authorities have organized a series of events to honor soldiers killed in the Russia-Ukraine war and comfort their grieving families, but some North Koreans describe these ceremonies as elaborate political theater designed to serve the regime’s strategic goals.
You don't say.
Critics point to scenes of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un weeping while consoling bereaved families as carefully choreographed moments aimed at showing both domestic and international audiences that North Korea will honor its military sacrifices while demonstrating its alliance with Russia.
According to a Daily NK source inside North Korea, authorities were meticulous in selecting which veterans received public recognition. Only commanders and soldiers specifically chosen for their battlefield accomplishments were featured in the ceremonies.
The choice of venue was equally deliberate. By holding the events at the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea—a space typically reserved for the country’s top leadership—authorities sought to maximize the prestige and significance of the commemorations.
North Korea also intentionally displayed only a small number of portraits of the fallen. Officials strictly limited how many were shown, believing that revealing the full extent of combat casualties might shock the public, the source explained.
A key point. By presenting this as a case of a few brave heroes, rather than thousand upon thousand of saps slaughtered in Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine for no reason beyond the survival and aggrandisement of Kim Jong-un, they're fooling the people in the cruellest way.
Well…what else is new.
This image from Korean Central Television of Kim Jong Un mourning while caressing a coffin containing the remains of a North Korean soldier who died on deployment to Russia was displayed in the background of an artistic performance at the East Pyongyang Grand Theater on June 29 with Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova in attendance.
Mick Hartley 