South Korea offers shelter to North Korean POWs captured fighting for Russia against Ukraine

Seoul is open to discussions with Ukraine about bringing two captured North Korean soldiers to South Korea, should they express a desire to relocate, said South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lee Jae-woong, according to Yonhap.

On 12 January, South Korea’s intelligence agency confirmed that Ukraine captured two North Korean soldiers and pledged close cooperation with Ukrainian authorities to share valuable information.

North Korea is estimated to have sent around 11,000 troops to support Russia in its war against Ukraine, with nearly 300 reported killed and 2,700 wounded.

The statement came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv forces captured two soldiers in Kursk Oblast, where they were fighting alongside Russian forces.

Under South Korea’s Constitution, the entire Korean Peninsula is considered its territory, recognizing all residents on the peninsula as its nationals.

“As North Korean soldiers are our nationals according to the Constitution, (the government) plans to hold discussions with Ukraine if they request defection to South Korea,” said Lee Jae-woong.

However, he stressed that neither of the two captured soldiers has yet expressed an intention to move to South Korea. The country’s authorities will remain contact with Ukraine on the matter.

In a video posted by Zelenskyy, one of the prisoners asked if Ukrainians are good people. After receiving an affirmative response from the translator, he said, “I want to live here.”

Earlier, Ukrainian soldiers of the 6th Regiment of the Special Operations Forces said they repelled an assault by North Korean troops in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, eliminating 18 North Korean fighters.

One surviving North Korean soldier attempted a failed ambush on the Ukrainian soldiers. He tried to deceive the fighters and detonate a grenade, intending to kill them along with himself.

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