Russia's Duma speaker visits Pyongyang to honor troops killed in Ukraine

Russia's top parliamentary official arrived in Pyongyang to attend the April 27 opening of a museum honoring North Korean soldiers killed while fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, according to the Korea Times.

The visit underscores deepening military ties between Moscow and Pyongyang at a moment when an estimated 15,000 North Korean troops have fought — and died — in Russia's war against Ukraine, a development closely followed by Korean Americans across Southern California.

Vyacheslav Volodin, chairman of Russia's State Duma, "has arrived in the DPRK on a working visit," the Duma press service said, according to Russian state news agency Tass, as reported by the Korea Times.

Volodin traveled to the North Korean capital to "take part in the opening ceremony of a memorial complex and museum ... honoring the courage of Korean servicemen who took part in the liberation of the Kursk region," the Duma press service said. The trip was made "on the instruction of Russian President Vladimir Putin," the press service added. Jo Yong-won, chairman of North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly, received Volodin upon his arrival in Pyongyang.

The new institution — the Memorial Museum of Combat Feats at the Overseas Military Operations — formally enshrines the role of North Korean soldiers in a conflict that began as Russia's invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

Approximately 15,000 North Korean combat troops were deployed to support Russian forces after Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a strategic partnership treaty in June 2024, according to the Korea Times. Russian authorities declared on April 26, 2025, that they had recaptured the Kursk region from Ukrainian forces — a victory in which North Korean troops reportedly played a significant role.

The museum opening, coming roughly one year after the Kursk announcement, signals that both governments intend to publicly commemorate the joint military campaign.

For Orange County's Korean-American community, the Pyongyang memorial and the military partnership it represents add a sobering new dimension to an already fraught Korean Peninsula security picture.