Two North Korean soldiers captured while fighting for Russia against Ukraine are now in South Korea. Officials are expected to question and screen them before deciding whether to grant protection; those approved usually receive resettlement training.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry said the cases would be reviewed under relevant laws and past practice, suggesting the North Korean Defectors Protection and Settlement Support Act would apply. Under the law, the National Intelligence Service checks applicants’ identities, reasons for leaving North Korea and security concerns. Investigation and temporary protection can last up to 90 days, with extensions possible in unavoidable circumstances.
South Korea and Ukraine have not disclosed the transfer’s legal basis or said whether it formally ended the soldiers’ prisoner-of-war status. The Third Geneva Convention requires POWs to be released and repatriated without delay after active hostilities end, but does not necessarily bar an earlier transfer to a third country. The soldiers have repeatedly said they want to go to the South. Seoul demanded an apology after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy disclosed the transfer, saying Kyiv broke a confidentiality agreement; Kyiv said no such agreement existed.
