South Korea To Accept All War Fights Of North Korean Soldiers In Ukraine Who Want To Defuse

North Korean soldiers arrested by Ukrainian troops in Kurshchyna. (Twitter/@ZelenskyyUa)

JAKARTA - The South Korean government said on Wednesday it would accept all North Korean prisoners of war (POW) in Ukraine who wanted to defect, reaffirming its commitment to providing the necessary protection.

The announcement comes hours after local media reported a North Korean soldier detained in Ukraine expressed his intention to seek asylum in the South.

"Based on the Constitution, North Korean soldiers are recognized as our citizens. Respect a person's free will in terms of repatriation of detainees in line with international law and related practices. No one should be forcibly returned to a place where they face the risk of persecution," said an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reported by The Korea Times on February 20.

The Seoul government has submitted this position to Ukrainian authorities and will continue discussions with them, the official added.

According to an interview by Chosun Ilbo published on Wednesday, a North Korean soldier identified only by his last name Ri, who is currently detained by Ukrainian forces in Kyiv, expressed his intention to defect to South Korea.

Ri (26) and another soldier Baek (21) were arrested on January 9 in the Kursk region of Russia. They are among thousands of North Korean soldiers sent to the battlefield since October 2024 to support Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"First, I plan to apply for asylum, and I'm thinking about going to South Korea. If I look for protection, will they accept me?" Ri said when asked about his future plans, adding he was 80 percent sure about his decision.

Ri claimed to have joined the North Korean military in 2015, serving as a reconnaissance and sniper soldier. He claimed to have been deployed to the Ukrainian battlefield on January 5, but was unaware of his combat role before arriving in Kursk.

"I was told I would train as a student. I didn't know I would participate in the fighting," he said.

When asked if North Korean soldiers were ordered to commit suicide if caught, he replied, "detained is considered a betrayal" in his military.

This marks the first time a North Korean prisoner of war (POW) has publicly sought asylum in Seoul, although previously there have been several cases of soldiers defecting from North Korea.

South Korean intelligence agencies estimate around 11,000 North Korean troops have been deployed, with about 4,000 of them estimated dead or injured.

In an interview with The Korea Times earlier this month, Ukrainian Ambassador to South Korea Dmytro Ponomareenko said his country was open to discussions with Seoul.

"Given the threat to the lives and freedoms of North Korean soldiers if they are repatriated to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), and if they refuse to return, we are open to dialogue with international partners, particularly the Republic of Korea, regarding the possibility of transferring them to third countries," said Ambassador Ponomarenko.

However, in the current situation, bringing North Korean prisoners to South Korea seems a complicated process.

The Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War established "war offers captured during hostilities must be released and repatriated to their home countries without delay after the war ended."

There are still questions as to whether North Korean prisoners can be treated as prisoners of war under international law, as neither Russia nor North Korea have officially acknowledged the deployment of North Korean troops.