{"id":286280,"date":"2026-02-16T05:24:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T05:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/286280\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T05:24:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T05:24:07","slug":"kim-jong-un-unveils-housing-for-families-of-north-koreans-killed-in-ukraine-war-north-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/286280\/","title":{"rendered":"Kim Jong-un unveils housing for families of North Koreans killed in Ukraine war | North Korea"},"content":{"rendered":"

North Korea has said it completed a new housing district in Pyongyang for families of North Korean soldiers killed while fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, the latest effort by leader Kim Jong-un<\/a> to honour the war dead.<\/p>\n

State media photos showed Kim walking through the new street \u2013 called Saeppyol Street \u2013 and visiting the homes of some of the families with his increasingly prominent daughter, believed to be named Kim Ju-ae, as he pledged to repay the \u201cyoung martyrs\u201d who \u201csacrificed all to their motherland\u201d.<\/p>\n

Kim said the new district in the capital\u2019s Hawasong area symbolised the \u201cspirit and sacrifice\u201d of the dead troops, adding that the homes were meant to allow bereaved families to \u201ctake pride in their sons and husbands and live happily\u201d.<\/p>\n

Kim Jong-un and his daughter Kim Ju-ae (back L) visiting the families of fallen soldiers moving into their homes on the new street in Pyongyang, in an image released by North Korea\u2019s official Korean Central News Agency Photograph: KCNA VIA KNS\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Kim said he had pushed to finish the project \u201ceven one day earlier\u201d in the hope it might bring \u201csome small comfort\u201d to the troops\u2019 families.<\/p>\n

In recent months, North Korea has intensified propaganda glorifying troops deployed to fight<\/a> in Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine, including the unveiling of a new memorial complex<\/a> in Pyongyang adorned with sculptures of troops. Analysts see it as an effort to bolster internal unity and curb potential public discontent.<\/p>\n

Kim has sent thousands of troops and large quantities of military equipment, including artillery and missiles, in recent months to fuel Russian president Vladimir Putin\u2019s war on Ukraine<\/a>, as the leaders align in the face of their separate confrontations with Washington.<\/p>\n

Kim Jong-un presiding over the completion ceremony. Photograph: KCNA\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Kim last week pledged to \u201cunconditionally support\u201d all of Putin\u2019s policies and decisions.<\/p>\n

Under a mutual defence pact with Russia, in 2024 North Korea<\/a> sent about 14,000 soldiers to fight alongside Russian troops in Ukraine, where more than 6,000 of them were killed, according to South Korean, Ukrainian and western sources.<\/p>\n

Kim embracing people at the ceremony. Photograph: KCNA\/Reuters<\/p>\n

South Korea\u2019s National Intelligence Service believes North Korean forces are benefiting from the war by gaining modern combat experience and Russian technical support that could improve the performance of their weapons systems, according to lawmakers who attended last week\u2019s closed-door briefing.<\/p>\n

The construction of the new street comes as North Korea prepares to open a major ruling party congress later this month, where Kim is expected to announce his major goals in domestic and foreign policy over the next five years and take further steps to tighten his control.<\/p>\n

Kim Jong-un inspecting the under-construction Memorial Museum of Combat Feats in Pyongyang on Friday. Photograph: KCNA VIA KNS\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The timing of the street inauguration is a \u201chighly calculated political move to justify its soldier deployment\u201d ahead of the party congress, said Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt visualises the state providing concrete compensation to the families of fallen soldiers … as a symbolic showcase,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

With Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"North Korea has said it completed a new housing district in Pyongyang for families of North Korean soldiers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-286280","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}