Ukraine and South Korea to Discuss North Korean POWs
Foreign ministers of Ukraine and South Korea will meet in Seoul on June 30 to discuss North Korean prisoners of war who fought on Russia's side. South Korea has stated it is ready to accept all such POWs if they wish.
The foreign ministers of Ukraine and South Korea are scheduled to hold talks in Seoul on June 30 regarding North Korean prisoners of war who fought alongside Russian forces. The meeting was reported by Reuters.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry announced that the country is prepared to accept all North Korean POWs who express a desire to go there. The ministry emphasized its opposition to any repatriation of North Korean POWs to Russia or North Korea against their will. Spokesperson Lee Jae-woong previously explained that South Korea's constitution considers the entire Korean Peninsula as its territory, effectively recognizing all residents of the peninsula as South Korean citizens.
In December 2025, two North Korean soldiers captured in Ukraine while fighting for Russia wrote a letter expressing their wish to relocate to South Korea. On January 11, 2025, it was reported that Ukrainian troops had captured two North Korean soldiers in the Kursk region. Ukraine's Special Operations Forces released video footage showing one of them being taken out of Russia, while the Air Assault Forces displayed the other prisoner.
The Russian outlet "Agentstvo. Novosti" found that a fake military ID discovered on one of the captured North Korean soldiers had been issued in the name of a real resident of Russia's Tuva Republic.
