Seoul says ready to accept prisoners – but only if they are willing
Your support helps us to tell the story
Support Now
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
South Korea toldUkraine it was ready to accept North Korean soldiers captured by Kyiv if they were willing to move to the country, state news agency Yonhap reported.
In a phone call, foreign minister Cho Tae Yul told his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha the prisoners would be considered South Korean citizens and Seoul would accept their defection if they expressed such an intention.
Ukraine estimates that North Korea deployed nearly 11,000 soldiers to aid Russia’s war effort, marking the first time that the isolated country has put boots on the ground in a foreign conflict.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said his forces had killed or wounded about 4,000 North Korean soldiers in Kursk, the Russian border region which Ukrainian forces entered last August in their only significant counterattack into Russian territory. Kyiv has since lost most of the territory it held there.
Moscow and Pyongyang have denied that North Korean troops are fighting in the Ukraine war even after signing a mutual defence last November that obligates each to come to the other’s aid in the event of an external attack.
In January, Mr Zelensky said his forces had captured two wounded North Korean soldiers from the Kursk battlefield.
He shared a video showing one of the soldiers expressing a desire to stay in Ukraine.
One of the soldiers reportedly told South Korea’s Chosun newspaper that he was willing to defect to the country and asked if he would be accepted for asylum.
Alleged North Koreans soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces at an undisclosed location
Alleged North Koreans soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces at an undisclosed location
The talks between the foreign ministers of South Korea and Ukraine came amid concerns about the fate of North Korean soldiers captured by Ukraine.
"If the soldiers are captured and tell information to the enemy, their families will be punished, go to a political prison camp, or worse, they will be executed in front of the people," North Korean defector Pak Yusung told ABC News.