SEOUL, September 24 (AJP) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky disclosed at the United Nations that two North Korean soldiers captured while fighting for Russia have been transferred to South Korea, an announcement Seoul stopped short of confirming but did not deny.
“Recently, we sent two North Korean prisoners of war to the Republic of Korea,” Zelensky said in his address to the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Wednesday. He gave no details on when or how the transfer took place.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said it could not disclose whether or when the soldiers had been transferred, citing their safety and that of their families.
The ministry said Seoul had consistently maintained that the issue should be resolved in a way that respects the individuals’ free will and complies with international law and humanitarian principles, and that it had been in communication and consultations with Ukraine and other relevant countries and organizations.
It declined to disclose the soldiers’ current status, the timing or route of any transfer or details of bilateral discussions.
The ministry did not dispute Zelensky’s statement, leaving his public disclosure as the clearest indication yet that the two soldiers are now in South Korea.
The two North Korean troops were captured by Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region in January 2025. They were the first North Korean soldiers known to have been captured alive after Pyongyang sent troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The issue had been under government-level discussion for months.
President Lee Jae Myung and Zelensky discussed the fate of the North Korean prisoners during their first summit in Ankara on July 8 on the sidelines of the NATO summit. The two leaders agreed that the matter should be handled in accordance with the prisoners’ wishes, international law and humanitarian principles.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry had previously described the issue as a sensitive diplomatic matter involving the safety of the prisoners and their families and said Seoul and Kyiv were seeking a resolution based on the individuals’ free will.
Zelensky used the transfer in his U.N. speech to criticize North Korea’s military involvement in the war.
“These guys are not easy to capture alive,” he said, recounting that one of the soldiers tried to kill himself after realizing he would be taken prisoner.
Zelensky accused North Korean leader Kim Jong Un of using his soldiers “like currency” in return for military benefits from Russia, including improvements in ballistic missile and drone capabilities.
North Korean troops have been deployed primarily in Russia’s Kursk region, where they have fought alongside Russian forces against Ukrainian troops.
The transfer, if completed as Zelensky described, would mark the first known case of North Korean soldiers captured in the Russia-Ukraine war being brought to South Korea.
Seoul estimates Pyongyang has so far dispatched a total of 16,000 soldiers since Oct. 2024, with some 25,000 having undergone rotations with the Russian armed forces.
Zelenskyy last month said up to 50,000 North Korean soldiers will be deployed in Russia to fight for Pyongyang’s ally and called for South Korea to provide support for its air defense.
Zelenskyy said on Aug. 8 X posting that “a decision has been made for 30,000 to 50,000 North Koreans to be deployed on the territory of Russia,” a higher figure than his estimate of 30,000 in July. He did not elaborate on how he obtained the information.
He said Kyiv had found some North Korean missiles in Ukraine’s territory, without disclosing their locations.
AJP Takeaways
- Zelensky makes transfer public: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 23 that Ukraine had sent two captured North Korean soldiers to South Korea, the first public disclosure that the transfer had taken place.
- Seoul stops short of confirmation — but does not deny it: South Korea’s Foreign Ministry declined to disclose the soldiers’ status, timing or transfer route, citing their safety and that of their families. It said Seoul had been consulting Ukraine and other relevant parties, without disputing Zelensky’s account.
- Transfer follows months of bilateral coordination: The two soldiers had expressed a wish to defect to South Korea, while Seoul and Kyiv had already agreed to handle North Korean POWs according to their free will, international law and humanitarian principles. South Korea and Ukraine formally agreed in March to continue cooperation on the POW issue.
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