North Korean leader Kim Jong Un used one of the country’s most important national celebrations to publicly praise troops serving abroad, further bringing Pyongyang’s direct participation in Russia’s war against Ukraine into North Korea’s official narrative. Speaking at an assembly hall in Pyongyang on Wednesday, Sept. 9, during celebrations marking the 78th anniversary of North Korea’s founding, Kim thanked workers and soldiers for their service and expressed what state media KCNA described as “special gratitude and respect” to commanders and soldiers “participating in overseas military operations.”JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Neither Kim nor KCNA explicitly named Russia or Ukraine. But the reference was widely understood to concern North Korean troops sent to fight alongside Russian forces. The wording marks another step in Pyongyang’s increasingly public embrace of a military deployment that was initially concealed by both North Korea and Russia. From secret deployment to state honor North Korea has sent an estimated 14,000 to 15,000 troops to support Russian forces since late 2024, according to Western and South Korean officials. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service estimated in February that around 6,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed or wounded. Seoul said in late August that Pyongyang was preparing for another possible troop deployment, although there were no indications that additional forces would be sent imminently.