Kim Jong-un personally checked the site where statues to be installed at a memorial commemorating troops dispatched to Russia are being made. North Korea is devoting effort to commemoration for the deployed forces to stress the legitimacy of participation in the Ukraine war and to ease fatigue from the prolonged deployment.

The Korean Central News Agency said that on the 25th Kim visited the Mansudae Art Studio and “guided the sculpture-creation project to be built and installed at the Overseas Military Operations Combat Merits Memorial.” The Mansudae Art Studio is an art production base that makes propaganda works. It has been responsible for producing major statues of North Korea.

In a photo released by the agency, Kim appears to point at a projected interior layout of the memorial with a baton while giving instructions.

Kim looked over ‘symbol tower’, ‘central sculptural group’, ‘sub-theme sculptural group’, and ‘exterior-wall decorative relief panels’, and was quoted as saying that “the principles guiding the sculpture-creation project ensure its monumental value and symbolism at the highest level.”

He stated that “the outstanding heroism of the victory generation has been sublimated into army-wide mass heroism,” and added that “going forward, anyone who visits the memorial should be able to keep an eternal memory of them even before a single statue, so noble artistic forms and delicate perfection must be achieved down to every detail,” according to the agency.

He went on to express “the expectation that the creative group at Mansudae Art Studio, with the utmost sincerity, will realize as fine creative results the eternal gratitude and respect of our Party and government, our military and people, offered to true patriots.”

Kim also personally attended the groundbreaking ceremony for this memorial in October.