Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday he was ready to hand captured North Korean soldiers to Pyongyang in exchange for the return of Ukrainian POWs held in Russia.
Zelensky’s offer came a day after Ukraine announced it had captured two North Korean soldiers wounded fighting against Kyiv’s troops in Russia’s Kursk region. It did not provide any proof of their nationality.
On Sunday, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service backed up Ukraine’s account, telling AFP it “confirmed” that the Ukrainian military had captured two North Korean soldiers on January 9 in the Kursk region.
“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,” Zelensky wrote on X.
There would “undoubtedly be more” North Korean soldiers captured by Kyiv, he added.
For “those North Korean soldiers who do not wish to return, there may be other options available”, said Zelensky.
North Koreans who wanted “to bring peace closer by spreading the truth about this war in Korean will be given that opportunity”.
Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang has acknowledged that North Koreans have been deployed to fight against Ukraine.
The two countries have boosted their military cooperation since Russia launched its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Zelensky said that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot manage without military support from Pyongyang”.
The Ukrainian president posted a video of an interrogation of the two North Korean prisoners of war, one of whom is lying in a bunk bed and the other is sitting up in bed with a bandage round his jaw.
One man can be heard speaking to a Ukrainian official through an interpreter, saying in translated comments that he did not know he was going to fight in a war with Ukraine and that his commanders “told him it was just training”.
In translated comments, one of the men says he wants to return to North Korea while the other says he will do what he is told but if given the chance, wants to live in Ukraine.
