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Over 10.000 North Korean soldiers are estimated to have been sent to Russia.
Two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces while fighting for Russia have voiced their wish to defect to South Korea, a defector aid group told AFP on Sunday, according to News.ro.
The rare case sheds light on Pyongyang’s secretive military cooperation with Moscow, which has reportedly deployed thousands of North Korean troops to support its campaign in Ukraine.
Growing deployments
South Korean and Western intelligence agencies estimate that over 10,000 North Korean soldiers were sent to Russia in 2024, primarily to the Kursk region, to bolster the Kremlin’s war effort.
In January, Seoul confirmed the capture of two such soldiers by Ukrainian forces. One reportedly told a visiting South Korean lawmaker in February that he hoped to live a “normal life” in the South.
Plea on camera
Their request was repeated during an interview for an upcoming documentary, according to Jang Se-yul, director of Gyeore-eol Nation United, an organization that assists North Korean defectors. “At the end of the interview, the two asked the producer to take them to the South,” Jang told AFP.
The conversation took place on October 28 in Kyiv at a confidential location where the pair are detained. “They begged the interviewer to promise to come back for them,” Jang added.
Awaiting release
Although the footage of the meeting has not yet been made public, Jang said it is expected to be released in the coming weeks.
Photos shared by his group show one of the men reading letters from fellow defectors now living in South Korea.
Under South Korea’s constitution, all Koreans—including those in the North—are considered citizens.
Seoul maintains that this provision extends to North Korean prisoners of war held in Ukraine.
Fatal consequences
South Korean intelligence reports suggest Pyongyang ordered its soldiers to commit suicide rather than risk capture.
“Sending them back to North Korea would be tantamount to a death sentence,” said lawmaker Yu Yong-weon, who met with the two prisoners earlier this year.
North Korea acknowledged in April that it had sent troops to Russia, admitting that some had been killed in combat.
Seoul’s intelligence services estimate that roughly 2,000 North Korean soldiers have died so far.
Sources: AFP, News.ro, Reuters, BBC
