Russia floated messages of thanks from students in the Kursk region, where North Korean troops had been dispatched, on the Daedong River. It is seen as an emphasis on the close bond with North Korea.
According to the Korean Central News Agency on the 22nd, the day before, students in Kursk city held a ceremony to launch paper lantern boats on the Daedong River in Pyongyang that they had made with "gratitude and respect" for North Korean troops. Russian Ambassador to North Korea Aleksandr Matsegora and embassy officials also attended the ceremony.
On the paper lantern boats, children of staff at the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang wrote in Korean and Russian: "Thank you," "We will win," and "Eternal friendship."
The Korean Central News Agency said it reflected a spirit of "precious memories of the war heroes and a wish for their eternal life."
Kursk is in southwestern Russia, bordering Ukraine. In Aug. last year, some of its territory was seized by Ukrainian forces, and North Korean dispatched troops were reported to have made a decisive contribution when Russia fully recaptured Kursk in Apr.
According to South Korean intelligence authorities, North Korea dispatched 15,000 combat troops to Russia starting in Oct. last year, and about 2,000 of them are estimated to have been killed.
North Korea and Russia are actively using the sacrifices of North Korean dispatched soldiers as a symbol of the two countries' blood alliance. At the military parade held at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on the 10th, North Korea's "overseas operations unit," which had been dispatched to Russia's Kursk, marched carrying both the national flag and the Russian flag.