As more North Korean soldiers die fighting thousands of miles away in Russia’s war against Ukraine, leader Kim Jong Un faces risks to his rule from unsolved questions over how to honor their deaths, bury their bodies and deal with their families. 

Kim has firmly cemented an image of championing national “martyrs” through annual visits to war cemeteries and creating monuments for soldiers who die in training accidents. But his continued secrecy over joining Russia’s war prevents the commemoration of soldiers’ sacrifices in service of his foreign policy objectives.