US EditionBoth North Korean POWs in Ukraine now say they want to defect to South: NGO
- On Nov 2, two North Korean prisoners of war in Kyiv pleaded to live in South Korea during a documentary interview coordinated by Gyeore-eol Nation United on Oct 28.
- Captured while fighting for Russia, the two men have been detained since early 2025 and both now wish to go to South Korea, unlike in February when only one sought refuge.
- They asked the producer for medicine, clothes, cigarettes, pens and books and were shown letters and video messages from defectors; Ukrainian officials and South Korean lawmaker Yu Yong-weon reported psychological instability and self-harm attempts.
- South Korea notified the Ukrainian government of its intent to receive the captives, but no transfer progress appears underway while South Korea's Defence Ministry remains silent and Seoul's National Intelligence Service assesses the situation as Ukrainian authorities coordinate with international organisations.
- The case is the first known instance of captured North Korean troops seeking asylum, and North Korea has deployed 15,000 troops to fight alongside Russia, while Seoul warns repatriation is "essentially a death sentence.
27 Articles
27 Articles
North Koreans fighting for Putin are being urged to commit suicide rather than be captured. Now two captured soldiers are pleading to be sent to South Korea, AFP reports. – Sending them back would be a death sentence, says politician Yu Yong-weon.
A second North Korean soldier who was captured in Ukraine expressed his desire to live in South Korea, declared Sunday for AFP an organization working with North Korean deserts.
North Korea sends thousands of soldiers to support Russia in the war of aggression against Ukraine. Some of them are captured by Ukraine. Two of the prisoners of war are said to have asked to go to South Korea after an interview with an NGO.
They said they wanted to go to South Korea.
The captured DPRK servicemen captured by Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region are in a psychologically unstable state and have tried to harm themselves. One of them in the camera painted a portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
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