North Korea’s elite XI Corps, which accounts for the bulk of soldiers deployed to Russia, held a lecture for senior officers aimed at quelling internal unrest ahead of winter military exercises.
A source in South Pyongan province told Daily NK recently that the XI Corps’ political department ordered all senior officers to attend the lecture on Nov. 29 based on pre-exercise materials distributed by the General Political Bureau of the Korean People’s Army.
“The military’s state security department has reported occasional indications of agitation among soldiers in the Storm Corps who have heard news from the outside world about the troops deployed to Russia. The lecture was held to urge (officers) to take concerted measures to defuse any ideological or psychological tension that might manifest among troops of the Storm Corps,” the source said.
The “concerted measures” in question refer to holding two political or ideological lectures per week during the winter exercises. “These lectures are supposed to tug on soldiers’ heartstrings by honoring the heroic mettle of the soldiers deployed to Russia, including those who died,” the source added.
According to the source, the lecture stressed the importance of boosting loyalty by proclaiming the sacrifice of North Korean troops deployed to Russia and the need to subdue agitation among the troops by reiterating that “fighting for the glory of the fatherland is the true path of the warrior.”
Lectures warn prisoners become propaganda pawns, families bear shame
“A warrior who is taken prisoner may have saved his skin, but he’s as good as dead,” the lecturer said, in an indirect reference to two North Korean soldiers sent to Russia who were taken prisoner by Ukraine.
According to the lecturer, the soldiers had already been exposed in the press and had flagrantly revealed military secrets they ought to have taken to the grave. “Even if these soldiers were to return alive, they forfeited their eternal glory the moment they abandoned the bosom of the DPRK,” the lecturer declared.
“If they had blown themselves up, they would have gone down as heroes whose names would be remembered in the fatherland. Those who choose to betray the cause are worse than dogs, and their families will bear that shame for the rest of their lives. The only choice on the battlefield is an honorable death,” the lecturer said.
“The political department of the corps command noted that the winter exercises are a time when soldiers need to shore up their ideological commitment and instructed officers to overtly warn soldiers during the two weekly lectures that any soldiers taken prisoner instantly become pawns in the enemy’s propaganda,” the source said.
These two weekly lectures are currently being held, but the troops of the XI Corps apparently don’t feel the ideological conviction the lectures are supposed to instill. Instead, the air is filled with anxiety and dread.
“Rumors are still going around about the conditions of the deployed troops. Now that many deployed soldiers have returned in body bags and the existence of prisoners has been officially recognized, soldiers are weighed down with fear about their own fate,” the source said.
December 15, 2025 at 07:26PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)