SEOUL, Dec 13 (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a welcoming ceremony for an army engineering unit that had returned home after carrying out duties in Russia, the North's KCNA news agency reported on Saturday.
In a speech carried by KCNA, Kim praised officers and soldiers of the 528th Regiment of Engineers of the Korean People's Army (KPA) for "heroic" conduct and "mass heroism" in fulfilling orders issued by the ruling Workers' Party of Korea during a 120-day overseas deployment.
Video footage released by North Korea showed uniformed soldiers disembarking from an aircraft, Kim hugging a soldier seated in a wheelchair, and soldiers and officials gathered to welcome the troops.
KCNA said the unit had been dispatched in early August and carried out combat and engineering tasks in the Kursk region of Russia during Moscow's war with Ukraine.
Last month, Russia's Defence Ministry said North Korean troops who helped Russia repel a major Ukrainian incursion into its western Kursk region are now playing an important role in clearing the area of mines.
Under a mutual defence pact between the two countries, North Korea last year sent some 14,000 soldiers to fight alongside Russia in Kursk, and more than 6,000 were killed, according to South Korean, Ukrainian and Western sources.
Kim said nine soldiers were killed during the mission, describing their deaths as a "heartrending loss," and announced that the regiment would be awarded the Order of Freedom and Independence. The nine fallen soldiers were awarded the title of Hero of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, along with other state honours, KCNA said.
The welcoming ceremony was held on Friday in Pyongyang and was attended by senior military officials, ruling party leaders, families of the soldiers and large crowds, according to the report.
In his speech, Kim said the regiment had cleared dangerous areas under combat conditions and demonstrated "absolute loyalty" to the party and the state. He also praised the political indoctrination, discipline and unity among the troops, calling their performance a model for the armed forces.
North Korea has been publicly honouring its troops who fought for Russia in the war in Ukraine. In August, Kim praised them in a meeting with officers involved in overseas operations, while state media earlier showed him draping coffins with the national flag in what appeared to be the repatriation of soldiers killed alongside Russian forces.
(Reporting by Heekyong Yang and Ju-min Park in Seoul; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Christian Schmollinger)
