Ukraine sent two captured North Korean soldiers to South Korea

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced in a speech before the United Nations General Assembly that Ukraine has transferred two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea.

“Recently, we sent two North Korean prisoners of war to the Republic of Korea,” Zelenskyy said in his address.

“These guys are not easy to capture alive. One of them, when he realized he was about to be taken prisoner, tried to kill himself. And he was shocked that fate did not let him die.”

Zelenskyy gave no further details about the transfer. Ukraine captured the two North Koreans in Russia’s Kursk region in January of last year. They were the first North Korean soldiers captured alive since the country joined the Russia-Ukraine war in 2024.

Zelenskyy said at the time that he would hand them over to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if he could facilitate their exchange for Ukrainians held prisoner in Russia.

However, human rights groups asked him to repatriate them to South Korea, citing the risks of punishment the soldiers faced. South Korean media reported that the two captured soldiers had expressed their desire to defect to South Korea.

South Korean opposition lawmaker Yu Yong-weon told reporters on Thursday that the two North Koreans had left Ukraine over the past weekend, transited through a third country and arrived in South Korea three to four days ago, the Yonhap news agency reported.

South Korea said in June that it would accept all North Korean prisoners of war who fought for Russia and opposed any repatriation of them to Russia or North Korea.