Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has made an unprecedented offer of a prisoner exchange deal involving North Korea. Over the weekend Zelensky announced that two wounded North Korean soldiers were recovered from the battlefield by Ukrainian forces. He subsequently shared photos of the foreign fighters on social media.
"This was not an easy task: Russian forces and other North Korean military personnel usually execute their wounded to erase any evidence of North Korea’s involvement in the war against Ukraine," Zelensky had said on X. Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang have yet to acknowledge that North Korean troops have been captured or killed.
Zelensky indicated he authorized the SBU intelligence service to give reporters access to the two POWs because the "world needs to know the truth about what is happening."
Zelensky's new offer came Sunday. He said on X:
"Ukraine is ready to hand over Kim Jong Un's soldiers to him if he can organize their exchange for our warriors who are being held captive in Russia."
It marked a rare moment of the Ukrainian leader addressing Kim Jong Un directly. Zelensky has vehemently condemned North Korea several times since reports first surfaced that some 10,000 North Korean troops have been sent to help Russian forces.
They are believed to only be operating in Russia's Kursk region, where Ukraine forces have held territory since a risky cross-border offensive began in early August. Moscow and Pyongyang inked a defense treaty last summer.
Zelensky further asserted there will "undoubtedly be more" North Korean soldiers captured by his forces. For "those North Korean soldiers who do not wish to return, there may be other options available," said the Ukrainian leder.
North Koreans who want "to bring peace closer by spreading the truth about this war in Korean will be given that opportunity," he continued.
Zelensky has put out a video of the North Korean POWs being questioned and interrogated, wherein the captive said he's willing to stay and live in Ukraine...
In addition to the first captured soldiers from North Korea, there will undoubtedly be more. It’s only a matter of time before our troops manage to capture others. There should be no doubt left in the world that the Russian army is dependent on military assistance from North… pic.twitter.com/4RyCfUoHoC
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 12, 2025
In this new video featuring the wounded North Korean troops, one of the men said that his commanders "told him it was just training" and that's how he ended up in Russia and then Ukraine.
Zelensky has further alleged that Russian President Vladimir Putin could not "manage without military support from Pyongyang"—and that's why he must be reliant on foreign military manpower.
Meanwhile South Korea’s spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, has informed lawmakers in Seoul it believes that some 300 North Korean soldiers have been killed since being transferred to Russia, and around 2,700 others injured.
