SEOUL, July 27 (Yonhap) -- A ceremony unveiling a commemorative plaque honoring North Korean soldiers who fought alongside Russian troops against Ukraine took place last week, Pyongyang's state media reported Monday.

The plaque was unveiled Friday at the Pantheon of Defenders of the Motherland run by Russia's Defense Ministry in the Moscow region to convey the "heroic feats" of soldiers of the Korean People's Army overseas operations units involved in the operation to liberate Russia's Kursk region, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

The plaque, mounted on the outer wall of the building, features a relief of a North Korean soldier standing with a rifle against the backdrop of the national flag. Its inscription reads: "Russia will never forget the feats performed by the DPRK combatants in Kursk Region," according to the KCNA. DPRK refers to North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Officials from Russia's defense ministry and other officials attended the ceremony, along with North Korean Ambassador to Russia Sin Hong-chol and embassy staff.

North Korea and Russia signed a mutual defense pact in June 2024, after which Pyongyang deployed its first batch of troops to Russia's border regions in October of that year to aid Moscow's war effort against Kyiv.

The North is since believed to have sent around 20,000 combat troops and military engineers to the Kursk region, with as many as 14,000 estimated to be currently deployed to the front lines.

jaeyeon.woo@yna.co.kr

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