South Korea has announced its readiness to negotiate with Ukraine on the possibility of handing over the DPRK military personnel who were captured by the Armed Forces. This was reported by the Yonhap agency.
South Korea is ready to accept the DPRK military personnel
Speaking to journalists, South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Lee Jae-un commented on the situation with two DPRK military personnel who were captured by Ukrainian fighters during fighting in the Kursk region.
– Since North Korean soldiers are considered South Korean citizens according to our constitution, the government is ready to hold consultations with Ukraine if the prisoners request it, – Lee said.
South Korea legally recognizes the entire Korean Peninsula as its territory and the residents of the DPRK as its citizens.
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At the same time, Lee noted that so far none of the captured North Korean soldiers has expressed a desire to be handed over to South Korea.
DPRK Captured Soldiers in Ukraine
President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on the X network today that Ukrainian investigators are currently communicating with the captured North Korean soldiers. All parts are checked.
– The world will know the whole truth about how Russia uses these guys who grew up in a complete information vacuum, know nothing about Ukraine at all, and are used by Russia solely to continue and expand this war, – the president emphasized.
In the interrogation video published by Zelensky, the captured North Korean soldier claims that his unit did not take Ukrainian soldiers prisoner.
The North Korean also noted that he was wounded during the battle, abandoned, and left alone for several days until he was found by Ukrainian soldiers. He also said that the data in his Russian military ID is not real.
According to South Korean intelligence, which actively exchanges data with their Ukrainian colleagues, North Korea has sent about 11,000 soldiers to participate in the war against Ukraine. Of these, about 300 have already been eliminated, and another 2,700 have been wounded.
Last week, it became known that the Ukrainian military captured two soldiers from the DPRK for the first time. Despite their injuries, they survived and were taken to Kyiv, where they are now cooperating with SBU investigators.
Recall that the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stopped an attempt to storm the DPRK troops in the Kursk region. During the operation, 17 North Korean soldiers were eliminated.
