North Korea forces families to conceal soldier deaths in Ukraine

Families of North Korean soldiers killed during hostilities against Ukraine are required to sign non-disclosure documents.
This was reported by the international intelligence community InformNapalm, which translated information and important testimonies published by the Radio Free Asia.
According to Militarnyi media outlet, the families of the dead North Korean soldiers are receiving certificates of death of their relatives, along with which the DPRK government requires them to sign a non-disclosure document.
An anonymous source from North Korea informed the RFA about receiving such a certificate.
“On December 18, my mother and I received a message that the Gyeongju City Party Committee was summoning us to participate in a provincial party event. When we arrived in Pyeongsong, we received a death certificate of my younger brother, who served in the special operations forces,” the source said.
According to the source, they’ve been told at the event that the soldiers were killed during “sacred military exercises on which the honor of the Motherland depended.”
The source added that more than 10 families attended the event, and most of the soldiers killed inaction belonged to the Storm unit.
“Most citizens know that the soldiers from the Storm unit were sent to the Russian-Ukrainian war. That’s why the families of the victims also guessed that their beloved ones died after being sent to Russia. But the authorities pressured us to put our fingerprints under a document that prohibited us from telling anyone about anything related to this. We did so and went home in tears,” the source said.
Another source reported a similar event held on December 27 in Tokchon. Such measures are unusual for the DPRK for several reasons: usually, when military personnel die in North Korea during military exercises or as a result of accidents, the unit to which they belong informs their families of the cause and place of death.
This time, however, it was not the army that called the families and handed over the death certificates, but the party. There was no mention of the place or cause of death.
It is known that the families of fallen soldiers receive benefits from the state for goods and in the implementation of personnel policy.
At the same time, North Korean government officials do not officially inform the citizens about the losses of their contingent.
At the same time, there is growing resentment among citizens that young soldiers are being used as cannon fodder to earn foreign currency.
Militarnyi has repeatedly reported losses among the North Korean military from drones, artillery, and small arms fire.