Seoul ready to accept North Koreans captured in Ukraine

North Korean soldiers sent by Pyongyang to fight in the war in Ukraine on Moscow's side and who have been taken prisoner by Ukraine will be accepted by South Korea after their release if they wish to do so.

Such a statement was made by the South Korean Foreign Ministry.

Seoul opposes the return of North Korean prisoners of war to the DPRK and their dispatch to Russia, the statement said.

The day before, on June 22, the South Korean agency Yonhap reported that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha plans to visit South Korea next week to discuss bilateral relations with the country's Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, as well as "the issue of North Korean prisoners of war."

"Cho will hold talks with Sybiha in Seoul on June 30. Likely topics on the agenda will include the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, as well as the issue of North Korean prisoners of war in Ukraine," the agency quoted a statement from the South Korean Foreign Ministry.

In early 2025, two North Korean soldiers sent as part of a large North Korean military contingent to Russia's Kursk region to support Moscow were taken prisoner by the Ukrainian armed forces. These soldiers expressed a desire to move to South Korea.

For its part, the South Korean government emphasized that, according to the constitution, North Korean soldiers are considered citizens of South Korea and that the country will accept all prisoners of war wishing to move to South Korea, providing them with the necessary protection and support in accordance with current laws and regulations.

"The government's fundamental position of facilitating their prompt relocation to South Korea based on their free will remains unchanged," a senior Seoul official told Yonhap, adding that South Korean authorities expect progress on the issue as a result of Sybiha's visit to Seoul.

South Korean activists and North Korean defectors explained that Pyongyang's military doctrine explicitly prohibits its servicemen from surrendering. "Soldiers were ordered to commit suicide if there was a threat of capture by Ukrainians," Kim Yejin, who fled North Korea as a teenager in the 1990s, told DW.

According to Article 3 of the South Korean Constitution, all residents of the DPRK are still considered its citizens, and they also have the full right to arrive and stay in the South of the peninsula at any time.

Source: DW