SEOUL, Feb. 19 (UPI) — South Korea will offer “necessary protection and support” to North Korean prisoners of war captured in Ukraine who want to come to the South, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday after a local media report quoted a captured soldier who wishes to defect.
“North Korean soldiers are our citizens according to the Constitution,” a ministry official told UPI in a text message.
“Respecting an individual’s free will regarding repatriation of prisoners of war is in line with international law and practice,” the official said. “They should not be repatriated to a place where they are threatened with persecution.”
“Therefore, the government will provide necessary protection and support if they request to come to South Korea in accordance with related laws and the basic principle of accepting all requests,” the official said.
Seoul has conveyed this position to Kyiv and will continue to hold necessary consultations, the official added.
The statement came after the Chosun Ilbo newspaper published an interview with a 26-year-old North Korean sniper who was captured by Ukrainian forces last month during combat in Russia’s southwestern Kursk region.
The soldier, identified by the surname Ri, told the newspaper that he believed he was being sent to Russia for training, not to fight Ukrainian forces.
Ri said that he would face difficulties if he returned to North Korea, claiming that “being captured is seen as betrayal.”
“I’ve made up my mind about 80%,” he told the interviewer. “I’m planning to apply for asylum and go to South Korea. Do you think they’ll accept me?”
Ri is one of two injured North Korean soldiers who were captured while fighting alongside Russian forces last month, later seen in footage shared by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on social media.
North Korea has sent some 12,000 troops to Russia, according to Washington, with many joining battles on the frontlines in Kursk Oblast. However, casualties have been high, with one recent report estimating 1,000 soldiers have been killed and another 3,000 injured or missing.
The large number of casualties is due to the North Koreans’ “lack of understanding of modern warfare,” Seoul’s National Intelligence Service said in a January briefing with lawmakers.
Footage reviewed by the spy agency revealed the North Korean troops engaging in “pointless” shooting at long-range drones and launching attacks without fire support from the rear.
Moscow and Pyongyang have grown closer since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The two signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty in June, which includes a mutual defense clause that calls for mutual military assistance in the event either country is attacked.
In addition to troops, North Korea has sent munitions and missiles to aid Russia in its war against Ukraine. The United States has warned that Moscow intends to provide advanced satellite and space technologies to Pyongyang in exchange.
