North Korea admits troops hunted mines for Vladimir Putin, with several returning injured, dead: ‘Absolute loyalty’

North Korea sent troops to clear mines in Russia’s Kursk region this fall, nine of which were killed during the dangerous deployment, leader Kim Jong Un said in a speech carried by state media Saturday.

In a rare admission of the kamikaze missions assigned to Pyongyang’s soldiers fighting alongside Moscow in the war in Ukraine, the hermit kingdom ruler praised their “heroic” conduct.

Kim said the men demonstrated “absolute loyalty” to the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, commending their political indoctrination, discipline and unity.

“All of you, both officers and soldiers, displayed mass heroism overcoming unimaginable mental and physical burdens almost every day,” Kim said.

The nine soldiers who were killed while mine hunting, during the course of their 120-day deployment that began in early August.

The Russian border region of Kursk was overtaken in a bold surprise incursion by Ukraine last year, before tyrant Vladimir Putin’s troops regained control this spring.

Video footage released by Pyongyang showed soldiers getting off a plane as they returned Friday from their Russian mission. Several came back injured, with Kim was shown hugging a soldier in a wheelchair.

Kim’s troops destroyed more than 1.5 million explosive objects in an area approximately the size of 80 American football fields, according to Russian officials.

“This is invaluable help in our work, without which border area cannot be rebuilt,” Alexander Khinshtein, governor of the Kursk region, wrote on Telegram, referring to the North Korean troops as “our combat friends” and to their recluse leader as “comrade.”

North Korea and Russia have been forging closer allegiances since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, with Pyongyang deploying more than 12,000 troops to fight on the front lines alongside Moscow.

Russia is giving North Korea financial aid, military technology, food and energy supplies in return, according to analysts, the AFP reported.

And Kim and Putin signed a mutual defense pact last year that was hailed as their strongest connection since the Cold War.