What is North Korea’s no-capture doctrine? Kim’s memorial ceremony exposes North Korea’s grim war policy

Kim Jong Un opened a memorial museum in Pyongyang on Sunday to honor North Korean soldiers killed in the Russia-Ukraine war. The ceremony drew senior Russian visitors, including Defense Minister Andrei Belousov and State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin. This accentuates the increasingly public nature of the military relationship between Pyongyang and Moscow.

Kim confirmed a policy that requires soldiers to commit suicide on the battlefield to avoid capture. The state-run Korean Central News Agency reported that he praised troops who “unhesitatingly opted for self-blasting, a suicide attack, in order to defend the great honor" and said they “did not expect any compensation, though they performed distinguished feats."

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The doctrine in the driver's seat

The North Korean soldiers who blew themselves up did so because capture was treated as the worst possible outcome. As per North Korean state media reports, Kim Jong Un confirmed a policy requiring soldiers to commit suicide on the battlefield rather than be taken prisoner. North Korean authorities had earlier instructed troops to “commit suicide by blowing themselves up to evade capture."

Memos found on dead soldiers indicated that North Korean authorities had stressed “self-destruction and suicide before capture." That points to an ideological and disciplinary framework in which surrender is not merely discouraged but framed as betrayal.

North Korean soldiers are viewed as deeply loyal to the regime and were told that dying in this way could protect their families back home. The captured troops had not shown an intention to defect.

This is consistent with Kim's own language at the Pyongyang memorial event.He praised soldiers who chose “self-blasting” to defend the “great honor," framing the act as sacrifice rather than defeat.

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Kim uses memorial to showcase wartime alliance with Putin

The memorial was inaugurated in Pyongyang on the anniversary of the end of an operation to liberate Russia’s Kursk region, which North Korea said its forces helped secure alongside Russian troops.

South Korean intelligence has estimated that North Korea sent about 15,000 soldiers to Russia, with roughly 2,000 killed, although Moscow and Pyongyang have not disclosed official deployment figures.

Reuters reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin sent Kim a message thanking North Korean soldiers for helping Russia repel a major Ukrainian incursion into Kursk and expressing confidence that the two countries would continue to deepen their strategic partnership.

The memorial ceremony adds to a series of state efforts in North Korea to present its troops in the conflict as symbols of sacrifice and loyalty.