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North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has publicly praised soldiers who killed themselves rather than be captured while fighting Ukrainian forces in Kursk region, offering the clearest confirmation yet of what officials and intelligence agencies have long described as one of Pyongyang’s most extreme battlefield policies.

In remarks published Monday by North Korean state media KCNA and first reported by Reuters, Kim honored troops who «unhesitatingly chose the path of self-destruction and suicide» rather than surrender, as he addressed Russian officials and bereaved families during a memorial ceremony for North Korean soldiers killed in combat.

«It is not only the heroes who unhesitatingly chose the path of self-destruction and suicide to defend great honor, but also those who fell while charging at the forefront of assault battles,» Kim said.

The comments mark the first time Kim has directly acknowledged the lengths North Korean troops fighting for Russia have gone to in attempts to avoid capture by Ukrainian forces.

BATTERED IN UKRAINE, RUSSIA RACES TO REARM — BUT QUESTIONS LINGER OVER ITS MILITARY STRENGTH

North Korea deployed an estimated 14,000 troops to Russia’s western Kursk region to support Moscow’s war effort, according to South Korean, Ukrainian and Western officials cited by Reuters. Those same officials say the forces suffered staggering losses, with more than 6,000 North Korean soldiers believed killed in some of the war’s most intense fighting.

For months, intelligence reports, battlefield evidence and defector testimony have pointed to a grim directive: North Korean troops were expected to detonate grenades or otherwise take their own lives rather than risk capture.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un pose for a photo during a signing ceremony following bilateral talks in Pyongyang, North Korea, June 19, 2024. (Sputnik/Kristina Kormilitsyna/Kremlin via REUTERS)

That policy appears to have extended even to the few who survived. According to The Guardian, two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces and now held as prisoners of war in Kyiv both reportedly attempted to blow themselves up but were unable to do so because of severe injuries. One of the captured soldiers has reportedly expressed guilt over failing to carry out those orders.

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North Korean troops train with Russian instructors to clear mines in the heavily contaminated Kursk region, according to Russian Defense Ministry footage. (East to West News Agency)

Kim’s latest speech appears to transform those reports from battlefield allegations into publicly praised state doctrine.

«Those who writhed in frustration at failing to fulfill their duty as soldiers rather than suffering the agony of their bodies being torn apart by bullets and shells — these too can be called the party’s loyal warriors and patriots,» Kim added.

The statement underscores the ideological intensity imposed on North Korean forces, whose loyalty to the regime appears to extend beyond combat to self-destruction.

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North Korean troops sweep minefields left behind in the Kursk region after months of fighting. (East to West News Agency)

The revelation also highlights the deepening military relationship between Pyongyang and Moscow.

According to South Korean intelligence assessments, North Korea has provided not only troops but also munitions to Russia, while receiving economic aid and military technology in return.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Aumento de los precios de la energía y del costo de vida

En Manila, la capital de Filipinas, grandes multitudes marcharon para pedir salarios más altos. Foto: Reuters

Activistas marchan en Lahore, Pakistán. Foto: EFE

Demostraciones en todo el mundo

El día libre obligatorio de Francia

Llamados a protestas callejeras y boicots en los EE. UU.

FIRST ON FOX: A major Virginia school district outside Washington, D.C., is facing a demand to rescind one of its policies that is alleged to be keeping parents in the dark if their child begins showing signs of transitioning genders at school.

America First Legal (AFL), a Trump-aligned lawfare group, is threatening litigation against the Fairfax City Public Schools (FCPS) system unless it rescinds Regulation 2603 and its accompanying policies, arguing it creates «a dual-track system in which FCPS actively supports and documents a student’s social transition at school while presenting parents with an incomplete — and materially misleading — account.»

In particular, AFL is taking issue with some of the district’s guidance that tells educators to refrain from «out[ing]» a student to their parents in district-wide information systems that they have access to, while requiring name and pronoun changes that students request to be made in the district’s information systems that are faculty-facing only. The policy also includes guidance notifying educators they do not need to obtain parental permission to affirm a student’s new gender identity, and permits students to choose the locker or bathroom of their choice without parental permission or even notifying them.

The legal demand, on behalf of a client with students in the district, follows a Supreme Court decision in March that America First Legal says has proven withholding a student’s desire to transition genders from their parents is against the law. «There can be no serious dispute that FCPS’s policies mandate the very conduct the Supreme Court has now condemned,» AFL’s letter to FCPS Superintendent, Dr. Michelle Reid, states.

SCHOOL DISTRICT’S TRANS POLICY BLASTED FOR FOSTERING ‘DECEPTION’ UNDER SHADOW OF SCOTUS RULING

AFL is referring to Mirabelli v. Bonta, during which the Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling that rejected pleas from parents of students in California schools to cease hiding their children’s gender transitions. AFL also argues in its letter to FCPS that Mirabelli v. Bonta «built directly on» Mahmoud v. Taylor, another case that invalidated school policy related to giving parents the right to opt their children out of educational programming. A school district blocked the opt-out policy, but parents demanded it was their right to know what their kids were being taught and, if they wish, excuse them from certain programming that may violate their sincerely held religious beliefs.

«The Court also made clear that the constitutional violation is not confined to the Free Exercise Clause. The policies independently implicate the fundamental Due Process right of parents — religious and nonreligious alike — to direct the upbringing and education of their children, including decisions bearing on a child’s mental health,» AFL adds in its letter. «Because gender dysphoria ‘has an important bearing on a child’s mental health,’ policies that both conceal relevant information from parents and affirmatively facilitate a child’s social transition at school likely infringe these constitutional protections.»

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION INVESTIGATES MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL DISTRICT OVER TRANSGENDER BATHROOM POLICY

Meanwhile, the AFL says that FCPS’s policies also violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974, which guarantees parents the right to view their child’s educational records while they are under 18.

A Fairfax County Public Schools bus is seen outside of Lutie Lewis Coates Elementary School in Herndon, Virginia, Thursday, May 11, 2023. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The guidance on gender identity from FCPS appears to be aware of potential FERPA violations, with the policy warning educators that if a parent or guardian requests access to see their child’s records, they will have access to both the child’s chosen and given name.

«If a student transitioning at school is not ready to share with their family about their transgender status, this should be respected,» the guidance instructs. «In this scenario, school staff should make a change socially, calling the student by the chosen name, while their official [school database] information remains the same.»

FCPS told Fox News Digital it is reviewing the letter from the AFL.

In January, the AFL also filed a federal civil rights complaint over this same matter. In response to that, the district told Fox News Digital in a statement that «FCPS remains committed to fostering a safe, supportive, welcoming, and inclusive school environment for all students and staff.»

«FCPS policies and regulations will continue to stay aligned with Virginia and federal law,» the district added in a separate statement in response to this article. «We continue to partner with all families to provide a safe, supportive, and inclusive school environment for all students and staff members, including our transgender and gender-expansive community.»

A transgender rights supporter takes part in a rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court as the justices hear arguments in a case on transgender health rights in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 4, 2024. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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Last year, the Trump administration put FCPS and a handful of other Northern Virginia school districts on a «high risk» status due to their policies on intimate spaces for females and transgender students, threatening their federal funding and putting it in a «reimbursement only» payment status.

«The Department of Education has already placed FCPS on a restricted status related to Title IX noncompliance, with related proceedings pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit,» AFL’s civil rights complaint points out. «This complaint independently establishes that FCPS’s current practices also risk federal education funding for violations of FERPA. I invite the Department of Education to take official notice of the existing Title IX enforcement posture as relevant context for federal oversight and remedial measures.»