TAIPIEI, TAIWAN-Two North Korean soldiers captured fighting with Russia in his war against Ukraine were not one of the 1,000 prisoners of war recently repatriated by Ukraine in Russia due to a Seoul request, said South Korean legislator.
The soldiers, identified as RI and Baek, were among the more than 12,000 North Korean soldiers deployed in the Kursk region of Russia to fight Ukraine which occupied parts of the region in a August counter-offensive. The two were captured in January and have been in detention in kyiv since then.
“I confirmed by a Ukrainian source that RI and Baek, former North Korean soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces, were excluded from the recent list of prisoner exchanges,” said Yu Yong-Weon, member of the Power Power Power Party.
Russia and Ukraine accepted an exchange of prisoners of 1,000 detainees each during the negotiations in Istanbul, Turkey, on May 16 from May 23, they exchanged around 300 prisoners per day for three days.
“Another source said that their exclusion from the exchange was in response to a request from the South Korean government that the Ukrainian government has honored,” Yu said.
“Please do all diplomatic efforts to make sure they can set foot on the free ground in South Korea.”
Radio Free Asia did not independently verify the status of RI and Baek.
Yu visited Ukraine in February and met the two prisoners when RI expressed the desire to defect South Korea.
Legally, South Korea recognizes all the North Koreans as citizens under its constitution. This means that all North Korean, including a prisoner of war, or Pow, has the right to South Korean nationality when he arrives.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea said that it had expressed a fundamental principle that it accepts all the North Korean soldiers asking to come to South Korea and had transmitted this position to the Ukrainian part.
Russia and North Korea have lined up closely since Russian President Vladimir Putin visited North Korea for interviews with Kim Jong Une and signed a mutual defense treaty during the visit of the Russian chief to Pyongyang last year. He raised military cooperation and led to the deployment of North Korean troops in Russia.
Reports on the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia have surfaced for the first time in October. Even as proof of their presence has increased – including when North Korean soldiers were caught in captivity by Ukrainian forces in Kursk and interviewed – neither North Korea nor Russia recognized their presence until April.
The National Intelligence Service, or NIS, reported in April that among the North Korean troops deployed in Russia, in April, among the North Korean troops deployed in Russia, there were a total of 4,700 victims, including 600 deaths.
The NIS estimated that the North deployed a total of 15,000 soldiers in Russia in two separate deployments.
The fight has decreased since March while the Russian forces took over most of the western territory of Kursk, where the Ukrainian forces had advanced, said the agency.
Although there is currently no visible movement for a third deployment, the possibility remains open, he added.
The NIS also noted that the North Korean forces have shown a significant improvement in combat capacities, because their initial inexperience has decreased and they have familiar with new equipment such as drones.
However, prolonged deployment would have led to “behavioral problems” among troops, including excessive alcohol consumption and theft.
In exchange for deployments of troops and arms exports, North Korea would have received Russian recognition satellite and launch vehicle technology, drones, electronic war equipment and air surface SA-22 missiles.
In addition, North Korea is said to be in discussion with Russia to modernize 14 industries, including metals, aviation, energy and tourism. It is estimated that around 15,000 North Korean workers were sent to Russia, said the NIS.
Edited by Mike Firn.