Wednesday, January 15, 2025 - Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is willing to release North Korean soldiers captured by Ukraine in the Kursk region of Russia in exchange for Ukrainian soldiers being held captive in Russia.
“Ukraine is ready to hand
over (North Korean leader) Kim Jong Un’s soldiers to him if he can organize
their exchange for our warriors who are being held captive in Russia,” Zelensky
said on Sunday, January 12 in a post on X that included a video purportedly
showing two North Korean POWs being interrogated.
On Saturday, Ukraine said it had captured two North Korean
soldiers, marking the first time that Kyiv has captured soldiers alive from the
isolated state.
Neither the Russian government nor the North Korean
government have officially acknowledged the presence of North Korean troops in
Russia.
In the video shared by Zelensky on Sunday, both soldiers
appear injured and are likely speaking under duress. A Korean-speaking voice
can be heard translating questions from the interrogator.
One of the soldiers, who appears in the video lying down,
says he did not know he was fighting in a war against Ukraine and that his
commanders told him it was a training exercise.
The interrogator, whose voice was modulated to obscure their
identity, asks both soldiers whether they want to return to North Korea.
One nods, the other – after further prompting from the
translator, who asks, “Do you like it here in Ukraine? It’s nicer here” – says
he wants to stay in Ukraine but adds later that he will do as he is told.
In his daily address later on Sunday night, Zelensky claimed
that one of the soldiers had “expressed a desire to stay in Ukraine.”
According to Ukrainian and Western assessments, some 11,000
North Korean troops are deployed in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces
occupy several hundred square kilometres after staging a cross-border incursion
in August last year.
Ukraine estimates more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers have
been killed or wounded in Kursk, while a senior US official said North Korea
has seen “several hundred” casualties – both killed and wounded – in the region
since October.
On Monday, South Korean lawmaker Lee Seong-Kwon, who was
briefed by the National Intelligence Service, said about 300 North Korean
soldiers sent to Russia are believed to have died so far with 2,700 injured.
In his statement on X, Zelensky vowed to capture more North
Korean soldiers.
In addition to the first captured soldiers from North Korea, there will undoubtedly be more. It’s only a matter of time before our troops manage to capture others. There should be no doubt left in the world that the Russian army is dependent on military assistance from North… pic.twitter.com/4RyCfUoHoC
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 12, 2025
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