Seoul (AFP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with the families of soldiers killed fighting for Russia against Ukraine and offered condolences for their “unbearable pain”, state media said Saturday.

Kim delivered a speech to the families on Friday, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, after meeting with only some of them last week at another public ceremony awarding honors to the soldiers.

“I thought a lot about other martyrs’ families who were not present there. So, I had this meeting arranged as I wanted to meet and console the bereaved families of all the heroes and relieve them of their sorrow and anguish even a little,” Kim said in his speech, according to KCNA.

He pledged to erect a monument in the capital as well as a new street for the bereaved families, while the state would give full support to the troop’s children.

“My heart breaks and aches more at the sight of those little children,” he said.

“I, our state and our army will take full responsibility for them and train them admirably as staunch and courageous fighters like their fathers,” he added.

At the ceremony last week, images released by KCNA showed an emotional Kim embracing a returned solider who appeared overwhelmed, burying his face in the leader’s chest.

The leader was also seen kneeling before a portrait of a fallen soldier to pay his respects and placing medals and flowers beside images of the dead.

In early July, state media again showed a visibly emotional Kim honouring flag-draped coffins, apparently of the deceased soldiers returning home.