Kyiv: Two North Korean prisoners of war, detained in Ukraine since early 2025 for fighting alongside Russia, have reached out to a visiting documentary producer, pleading for assistance in relocating to South Korea, according to an activist.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Jang Se-yul, who leads a group of North Korean defectors in South Korea, shared details of a recent encounter between the two North Korean captives, both in their 20s, and a South Korean documentary producer. The meeting took place at a prisoner camp near Kyiv, where the captives are currently held. The North Korean soldiers first gained attention when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced in January that they had been captured by Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk region.
Jang recounted the captives' emotional appeal to the producer, expressing their strong desire to be taken to South Korea. This marks a shift since February when only one of them expressed such a wish during a meeting with a South Korean lawmaker. Photographs revealed that a jaw wound sustained by one of the captives during their capture had healed, leaving some bone distortion. The prisoners appeared to be in a relatively hygienic condition, with hand-drawn portraits of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un displayed on one of their beds.
The captives requested items such as medicine for eye diseases, knitted clothing, trousers, cigarettes, pens, and books from the producer, Jang mentioned. Ukrainian officials noted their psychological instability, with reports of self-harm attempts. Since October of the previous year, North Korea has deployed 15,000 troops to support Russia's conflict with Ukraine.
South Korea has informed the Ukrainian government of its willingness to receive the North Korean captives if their intentions are confirmed. However, progress on their transfer is currently stalled.