How North Korea frames its soldiers' deaths in Ukraine

The death toll is rising among North Korean troops sent to fight for Russia against Ukraine and the regime in Pyongyang has resorted to tried-and-trusted techniques of propaganda to guarantee loyalty from North Koreans.

Late last month, North Korean state media broadcast a documentary detailing the actions of troops serving in Ukraine, which did not shy away from the deaths of its military personnel.


According to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, the program told of two soldiers — Yun Jong-hyuk, 20 and Woo Wi-hyuk, 19 — who found themselves surrounded but chose to kill themselves by detonating a grenade rather than be captured. The soundtrack described the young men's deaths as "heroic sacrifices."

While tales of brave soldiers sacrificing themselves for the motherland and young people urged to enlist in the military to become "bullet and bomb suicide squads" would fall on deaf ears elsewhere, analysts say the vice-like grip the North Korean government has over domestic media means that there are virtually no alternative narratives available to the public.

Propaganda to foster 'absolute devotion'
"It's what the North does: ideological indoctrination to educate both current soldiers and the next generation," Min Seong-jae, a professor of communication and media studies at Pace University in New York, told DW.

The program depicted other similarly sacrificial suicides, which have become more prevalent since two injured North Korean soldiers surrendered to Ukrainian troops shortly after they were first deployed.

"They show footage of troops committing suicide because it fits squarely into the regime's longstanding narrative of ultimate loyalty and sacrifice," Min said.

North Korean news has also been awash with footage of leader Kim Jong Un bowing his head before portraits of dead soldiers and embracing grieving family members.

Min says the images are designed to communicate his apparent anguish over their sacrifices.

"By broadcasting images of soldiers pulling grenades on themselves, the regime reinforces the message that absolute devotion to the homeland requires a willingness to die before surrender. The narrative is framed as heroic martyrdom, not senseless loss," he said. "What outsiders see as horror, North Korea presents as proof of its soldiers' unbreakable spirit."

A message for Moscow
Two days after the documentary was aired, South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) estimated that of the 13,000 soldiers deployed by Pyongyang to fight for Russia in its war in Ukraine, 2,000 have been killed.

But the regime is not just aiming its message at its domestic audience, Min says. Pyongyang is also keen to show its ally in Moscow that it is providing fearless comrades and strengthening their partnership.

And while such images in other, more open societies could undermine morale and "raise uncomfortable questions about why sons and brothers are being sent abroad to die," Min points out that this is not the case in North Korea.

"The state's tight control over information ensures these images carry a very different meaning," he said. "They frame the death not as a loss but as a heroic martyrdom."

Images of Kim Jong Un "weeping over coffins, consoling grieving families and presiding over solemn ceremonies" are used as "an opportunity to demonstrate the unity of the people."