South Korea, Ukraine hold ‘constructive’ talks on fate of North Korean POWs

SEOUL: South Korea and Ukraine held “constructive” talks today about the fate of two North Korean soldiers captured while fighting in Russia, Seoul said Tuesday.

South Korean foreign minister Cho Hyun and Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiga discussed the matter during talks in Seoul.

The soldiers were captured by Ukrainian forces in January last year while fighting for Russia in the Kursk region.

North Korea and Russia have demanded the repatriation of the pair, but rights groups and experts have warned they could face severe punishment if returned to Pyongyang.

The soldiers have asked to be sent to South Korea, which would in effect amount to defection.

Seoul is seeking their transfer on the grounds that they are citizens of a single Republic of Korea envisaged in its constitution.

North and South Korea remain technically at war after their 1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

The nations are separated by a demilitarised zone, but South Korea considers the entire Korean peninsula as one country.

The ministers “engaged in constructive discussions” on the soldiers’ future on Tuesday, a South Korean foreign ministry spokesman told reporters.

They agreed to be guided by “international law and humanitarian principles”.

“The government will continue to make diplomatic efforts to advance and resolve the issue of the North Korean prisoners of war,” the spokesman said.

Writing on X, Sybiga said he and Cho discussed the matter “in detail”.

‘Heroic’

It has been reported that North Korean authorities instructed troops to commit suicide rather than allow themselves to be captured while fighting for Russia.

One of the two held by Ukraine told South Korean broadcaster MBC earlier this year: “If I am not brought to South Korea, I will end up dying.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un praised North Korean troops killed in Ukraine in April for taking part in “death-defying hand-to-hand fights and heroic suicidal explosions… without hesitation”, according to the Korean Central News Agency.

“Kyiv had assured Seoul the two soldiers would not be repatriated to North Korea against their will,” Cho said in March.

Analysts say North Korea has received financial assistance, military technology, food and energy from Russia in exchange for missiles, munitions and thousands of troops for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

The two countries had signed a mutual defence treaty in 2024, obliging each to provide military assistance “without delay” if either comes under attack.

More than 7,000 North Korean troops were killed or wounded while fighting alongside Russian forces in the Kursk region during the 2024-2025 campaign, the Kyiv Independent quoted Ukraine’s military intelligence agency as saying this week.

Sybiga said he and Cho also discussed “shared challenges stemming from the deepening cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang”.