Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed today that he is ready to exchange two captured North Korean soldiers for Ukrainian prisoners of war held in Russia, before hinting at another possible fate for the two young men: life as a defector.
“For those North Korean soldiers who do not wish to return, there may be other options available,” said Zelensky. “In particular, those who express a desire to bring peace closer by spreading the truth about this war in Korean language will be given that opportunity.”
The Ukrainian president was speaking hours after South Korea’s National Intelligence Service released a new assessment that around 300 of Pyongyang’s soldiers have been killed since their deployment in Ukraine late last year, with another 2,700 wounded.
According to Seoul, inexperienced North Korean troops, deployed in wide-open fields with nowhere to hide, are struggling to adapt to drones and modern warfare. Adding further to their vulnerability are the crude tactics of Russian commanders, who are throwing them in assault campaigns without providing rear-fire support.
According to Lee Seong-Kweun MP, who spoke to reporters in Seoul following the spy agency’s briefing, “Memos found on deceased soldiers indicate that the North Korean authorities pressured them to commit suicide or self-detonate before capture.”
North Korea’s supreme leader, Kim Jong-un, has still not publicly confirmed that his soldiers are fighting alongside Russians in Ukraine. But western intelligence estimates that around 11,000 North Koreans are deployed there, with Kim offering up conscripts and missiles in exchange for Moscow’s guidance on launching spy satellites.
Kim’s troops are thought to have largely been deployed in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainians have ramped up their cross-border offensive in a bid to strengthen their bargaining power ahead of any Trump-led peace negotiations.
Over the weekend, Kyiv released a video of the two North Korean men captured in Ukraine, both of whom appeared injured. While the footage, likely made under duress, can’t be taken entirely at face value, it provided a striking indication of just how much Kim’s soldiers have been kept in the dark. Speaking to a Ukrainian official through an interpreter, one of them claimed that he didn’t even know that he was being sent to fight a war against Ukraine when he left his isolated homeland for the frontline. His commanders had told him it was “just a training exercise”.
Another arresting insight into the life of Kim’s soldiers fighting in Ukraine came on Saturday in the form of a last written note, translated by the Wall Street Journal, found within the diary of a North Korean soldier who was recently killed in a firefight. Detailing how Pyongyang’s troops are ordered to stand within seven metres of Ukrainian drones as covering soldiers try to shoot them down, he wrote: “When the bait stands still, the drone will stop and it will be shot down.”
What will be the fate of the two young men held captive in Ukraine?
Given that Kim has refused to acknowledge the North’s direct involvement in the war, it’s unclear if he will even claim these captured soldiers as his own. Though one possible way round this would be for Russia to claim them before handing them onto North Korea once they’ve been traded with Ukrainian prisoners of war.
If Seoul is right that North Korean troops are instructed to blow themselves up to avoid capture, then these two prisoners of war may well be punished for failing to follow orders if they do make it back to Kim’s authoritarian pariah state.
Meaning they could in time decide that a new life amongst their former enemies represents their best chance at survival.
While the circumstances of their capture are unprecedented, South Korea’s constitution considers all North Koreans as its citizens, meaning it has a legal obligation to protect citizens from north of the demilitarised zone and accept defectors, including soldiers.
So far, neither prisoner has requested to join the 34,000 plus North Koreans who’ve defected to the South since 1953, at least according to Seoul’s spy agency, which confirmed its participation in the interrogation by Ukrainian authorities. Though, in the video clip online, one of the two men said he wanted to remain in Ukraine, before adding that he would return home “if required”.
If the two men do put in a request to the South, aside from respecting a legal obligation, it would have plenty to gain from receiving them. They would provide a rare glimpse into the inner workings of Pyongyang’s military - and shed further light on its exact involvement in Ukraine.
Caitlin Allen
Deputy Editor
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