Russia to Make Film on 'North Korean Troops Joining the War,' Starring South Korean Actor

Producer: "We'll portray North Korean soldiers as heroes"
Expert: "A bid to curry favor... Pyongyang will be pleased"

Russia has announced plans to make a film about the exploits of North Korean troops deployed to the war in Ukraine. The plan is to cast a South Korean actor in the role of a North Korean soldier.

A painting depicting the fighting in Kursk, Russia. File photo unrelated to the article. The Asia Business Daily database.

According to North Korea-focused outlet NK News on October 14, Russian filmmaker Vadim Oleinik announced plans to make a war film titled "Sudzha: Comrades" at a presentation on October 13 (local time) of the results of the Russian Culture Ministry's review of production support applications.

Oleinik said the film would depict Russian and North Korean soldiers who fought together in March 2025 to recapture Sudzha, a Russian border city near Ukraine.

He said the film would be aimed primarily at young audiences and would pay tribute to soldiers killed in action in Kursk. Oleinik also released an AI-generated trailer showing Ukrainian troops entering the town of Sudzha and North Korean troops rescuing Russian soldiers.

The film's protagonist is a North Korean scout named "Joseon," to be played by South Korean actor Lee Hyeokjung. In a prerecorded video for the event, Lee said in Russian that he was honored to be taking part in the project.

In the trailer, when a woman who appears to be "Joseon's" mother objects, saying, "This isn't your war," "Joseon" responds with a line conveying that he is needed in Kursk, suggesting that he chose to take part in the war voluntarily.

Later scenes show "Joseon" training shirtless in the rain with other soldiers and rescuing a Russian comrade in combat. The video ends with Russian and North Korean soldiers standing with their respective national flags atop a building overlooking the ruined town of Sudzha. NK News said the scene appears to recreate photographs and videos taken during the actual operation.

Ilya Sponyakh, an adviser to Russia's Culture Ministry, claimed he had fought in the Battle of Kursk and questioned whether the film would exaggerate North Korea's role in the fighting.

Oleinik replied that Russia's Defense Ministry had approved the script and that the production team had supporting documents. He added that military advisers would also take part in the production to ensure the historical accuracy of the fighting.

North Korea began deploying troops to Russia in October 2024, and the first unit entered combat around December that year. Russia and North Korea did not acknowledge North Korea's participation in the Kursk operation until April 2025, when they claimed Russian forces had recaptured the border region. North Korea claimed that about 2,300 of its soldiers were killed in the fighting. Since then, Moscow has made considerable efforts to praise North Korea's contribution to the war through medal ceremonies, exhibitions, memorials and murals.

Chris Monday, a Russia expert at Dongseo University, told NK News that "these days, only films with an unmistakably patriotic message receive funding," and said recent war-themed films had fallen into "one-dimensional, blind patriotism."

He added that, from the North Korean authorities' perspective, the film "aligns with their own propaganda efforts to portray their soldiers as superhuman," and that Pyongyang would also be "satisfied."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.