A year after Ukrainian forces, by their account, captured two North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk region, the men’s fate remains unclear.
Activists in Seoul accuse President Lee Jae-myung’s left-nationalist government of dragging its feet, saying the men asked to be allowed to go to South Korea.
In North Korea, the soldiers likely face punishment for allowing themselves to be captured alive. “I won’t survive it if I return home. Everyone else blew themselves up, but I couldn’t,” one soldier told the South Korean newspaper Hankook Ilbo.
The UN has also weighed in on the case. The organization’s special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea said in February that Ukraine should follow international norms and not send POWs back to places where they risk torture. “I’d be grateful if they (South Korea) accepted me. If they don’t agree, there’s nothing I can do,” the outlet quoted one prisoner as saying.
South Korean activists and North Korean defectors told DW that Pyongyang’s military doctrine explicitly forbids surrender. “Soldiers were ordered to kill themselves if they faced the risk of being captured by Ukrainians,” said Kim Eu-jin, who fled the North as a teenager in the 1990s.
“These two men disobeyed orders and didn’t die - even if they tried. We don’t know how the regime will deal with soldiers who failed to carry out an order to commit suicide to avoid capture, because this hasn’t happened before. But I assume authorities will deem them traitors. And it won’t be just the soldiers — their families will be punished too,” Kim said.
In interviews, the North Korean soldiers said they were not afraid to fight Ukrainian forces, but they know capture could bring hardship to their families because of Pyongyang’s doctrine drilled into them: “A defector (someone who doesn’t return) brings punishment for three generations.”
“Historically, during and after the Korean War, returning POWs were reportedly subjected to forced labor and classified as hostile elements,” said Peter Oh, who fled North Korea in 2000 and is now a representative of the Free Korea Association (FKA), which helps North Korean defectors in the United States.
The two prisoners likely fear similar consequences if they return, Oh added. “There could be repercussions for their families. But the North Korean government may refrain from extreme measures to avoid international attention.”
Under Article 3 of South Korea’s constitution, all North Korean residents are still considered South Korean citizens and have the right to come to and reside in the South at any time. Yet more than a year after the two soldiers were captured, Seoul appears reluctant to accept them.
The delay stems from complex legal and diplomatic entanglements involving Ukraine, Russia and both Koreas, according to an FKA representative.
While the South Korean government has broadly expressed interest, it hasn’t taken concrete steps - likely because of delicate geopolitical implications, the representative said. For now, President Lee Jae-myung appears to be seeking warmer ties with Pyongyang.
South Korea’s constitution also includes Article 4, which focuses on “peaceful relations with the North,” Peter Oh added. “Our position is that, regardless of constitutional interpretation, the soldiers have the right to seek asylum in South Korea or in another country.”
Talks between Seoul and Kyiv over the fate of the two North Korean soldiers appear to be deadlocked. On February 9, the Korea Institute for National Unification released a report saying that breaking the stalemate “requires direct contact between the leaders of South Korea and Ukraine.”
If no agreement is reached, Ukraine may be forced to hand the two soldiers over to Russia.
North Korea has not publicly commented on the captured soldiers, though talks may be taking place behind the scenes. Kim Eu-jin argues that nothing prevents Kyiv from releasing the POWs and that “nothing in international law” bars their travel to South Korea.
“Officials keep saying it’s a ‘complex issue,’ but I don’t think they’re trying hard enough. President Lee, the Unification Ministry and the Foreign Ministry seem more concerned about not upsetting Kim Jong Un than about bringing these two men to South Korea.
If this were only about human rights, they’d already be here. It practically feels like the government is looking for reasons to keep them from coming,” Kim said.
