North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the Liberation Tower, which commemorates former Soviet soldiers, to lay a wreath accompanied by his daughter Ju-ae, marking the 81st anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also sent a congratulatory message to leader Kim on the occasion of Liberation Day, emphasizing friendly relations and mentioning the countries' "joint projects," which is seen as alluding to North Korea's troop deployment to Russia.

The Korean Central News Agency reported today (August 15) that "the esteemed comrade Kim Jong Un visited the Liberation Tower on August 14 on the occasion of the 81st anniversary of the liberation of the motherland."

Kim placed a wreath at the Liberation Tower under his own name, bearing the inscription, "We will never forget the feats of the Soviet army martyrs."

The agency reported Kim as saying that "the fine history, tradition, and blood ties between North Korea and Russia serve as the fundamental cornerstone and infinite driving force of bilateral friendly and cooperative relations today," adding that "the great friendship and solidarity between the peoples of the two countries, forged through a sublime ideology and genuine militant comradeship, will be firmly inherited and developed across generations alongside the new era of comprehensive blossoming."

This marks the third time Kim has visited the Liberation Tower on Liberation Day.

He has been visiting the Liberation Tower on Liberation Day since 2024, when the "Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership" (North Korea-Russia Treaty) was signed, displaying his close alignment with Russia both domestically and internationally.

The Liberation Tower in Pyongyang is a monument commemorating Soviet soldiers who died while driving out Japanese forces from North Korean territory in 1945.

The Russian side claims that approximately 47,000 Soviet soldiers were killed or wounded in those battles.

President Putin also sent a congratulatory message to leader Kim to celebrate the 81st Liberation Day.

Putin stated, "Today, relations between Moscow and Pyongyang have reached an unprecedentedly high level of comprehensive strategic partnership. Our countries are actively cooperating in all areas and coordinating efforts to ensure security and stability in the region."

He went on to emphasize, "I am confident that we will continue our constructive joint work on pressing bilateral and international issues to establish a more just and genuinely democratic world order for the welfare of the peoples of Russia and North Korea."

Putin also recalled that Soviet troops fought together to liberate North Korea from past Japanese colonial rule, noting, "It was during that harsh period that the solid tradition of militant comradeship and mutual assistance was established, forming the basis for the development of friendly and good-neighborly relations between the Russian Federation and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."

The leaders of North Korea and Russia exchange congratulatory messages every year on the occasion of Liberation Day.

However, North Korean media did not mention a return message from leader Kim.

The "joint projects" between the two countries mentioned in President Putin's congratulatory message are interpreted as referring to North Korea's troop deployments to Russia.

North Korea and Russia signed the "Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership" during a summit between leader Kim Jong Un and President Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang on June 19, 2024.

Based on this treaty—which stipulates that if either country is faced with an armed invasion and placed in a state of war, the other shall provide military assistance without delay—North Korea has closely aligned itself with Russia as a "blood alliance," deploying combat troops and engineers to the war in Ukraine starting in October of that year.

Recently, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alleged additional North Korean troop deployments, stating that Russia wants to deploy an additional 30,000 North Korean troops and is preparing to position them near border areas.

Kyodo News also cited Ukrainian Defense Ministry data to report that North Korea and Russia are considering plans to increase the scale of North Korean troop deployments to 50,000 by the end of November.

Yesterday (August 14), ahead of Liberation Day, leader Kim visited the Daesongsan Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery, where anti-Japanese partisans and independence activists are buried, to lay a wreath, and also visited the Anti-Japanese Revolutionary Martyrs Memorial Monument.

After paying tribute to the revolutionary martyrs, he stated, "The great cause of the Korean people in inheriting the sublime revolutionary spirit and noble outlook on life of the [anti-Japanese revolutionary] fighters across generations will be forever victorious and invincible."

Leader Kim's itinerary for this visit was accompanied by his daughter Kim Ju-ae and his wife Ri Sol-ju.

This is the first time Kim Ju-ae has accompanied leader Kim on his Liberation Day visits.

This is interpreted as an effort to highlight Ju-ae as a symbol of the future generation and a prominent "successor" within the Paektu bloodline lineage, while simultaneously demonstrating the will for the North Korea-Russia blood alliance to continue across generations.

Ju-ae, who has been exposed to North Korean media since 2022, previously attended veteran memorial events for the first time on July 27, the anniversary of the signing of the Korean War Armistice Agreement (referred to in North Korea as Victory Day), visiting sites such as the Cemetery for Martyrs of the Fatherland Liberation War and the Daesongsan Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery.

While Ju-ae did not appear at the Cemetery of the Chinese People's Volunteers during leader Kim's Victory Day schedule, she accompanied him to all visiting locations this time, including the Liberation Tower, the Daesongsan Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery, and the Anti-Japanese Revolutionary Martyrs Memorial Monument.

According to photos and videos released by the Korean Central News Agency and Korean Central Television, Ju-ae wore a light pink skirt suit and stood right in the center of the formation, drawing clear attention among leader Kim and his wife in black suits and senior party, government, and military officials.

Her prominent presence was highlighted as she walked hand in hand with leader Kim or followed right beside him while moving.

Meanwhile, Ri Il-hwan, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and director of its Department of Propaganda and Agitation—who had not been seen in public since last June—also accompanied leader Kim on his visit to the Daesongsan Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery.

Regarding this, South Korea's Unification Ministry explained that Ri Il-hwan had similarly vanished from public view for an extended period last year before reappearing, and while various possibilities such as health issues could exist, there is no information available to confirm.

(Photo courtesy of Korean Central News Agency, Yonhap News)