North Korea’s Kim casts youth as vanguard of state goals amid Russia war

SEOUL, May 3 (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with delegates attending his ruling party’s youth league congress in Pyongyang, state media KCNA said on Sunday, and the government once again identified youth as central to both domestic mobilization and its military role in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

The Eleventh Congress of the Socialist Patriotic Youth League, a quinquennial political meeting aimed at mobilizing citizens aged approximately 14 to 30, concluded last week with mass rallies, lantern parades and a gala in the capital.

Kim told delegates on Saturday that youth were “pioneering” in advancing provincial goals and described the league as a key force in implementing party decisions. He called for tighter organization and ideological discipline and posed for a group photo with participants, KCNA said.

In a letter published Friday, the ruling Workers’ Party openly linked the youth’s loyalty to Pyongyang’s involvement in the Ukraine war, telling Congress that young soldiers sent on overseas operations “turned into bombs and flames” to defend the country’s honour.

North Korea sent an estimated 14,000 troops to fight alongside Russian forces in the Kursk region, according to South Korean, Ukrainian and Western officials, who said more than 6,000 North Korean soldiers were killed.

Last month, Kim unveiled a new monument in Pyongyang in memory of the soldiers killed during these deployments.

The emphasis on youth control comes at a time of intense suppression of foreign cultural influence, with exposure to South Korean music, movies and slang treated as serious political offenses, as Kim sees youth policy as a pillar of social stability.

She has also been making increasingly public appearances at major state events with her younger daughter, whose name is believed to be Ju Ae.

(Report by Kyu-seok Shim)