South Korea, Ukraine hold 'constructive' North Korea
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- South Korea and Ukraine held 'constructive' talks in Seoul on Tuesday (June 30) on two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces in January 2025 while fighting for Russia in the Kursk region.
- The two POWs have asked to be sent to South Korea — in effect, defection — and Seoul is seeking their transfer on constitutional grounds that they are citizens of a single Republic of Korea encompassing the entire peninsula.
- North Korea and Russia have demanded repatriation of the soldiers, but rights groups and experts warn they could face severe punishment in Pyongyang; one POW told MBC, 'If I am not brought to South Korea, I will end up dying.'
- North Korean authorities instructed troops to commit suicide rather than allow capture in Russia, and leader Kim Jong Un praised dead troops in April for 'death-defying hand-to-hand fights and heroic suicidal explosions,' according to KCNA.
- Ukraine's military intelligence said more than 7,000 North Korean troops were killed or wounded fighting alongside Russian forces in the Kursk campaign during 2024-2025.
- Both ministers agreed their approach would be guided by 'international law and humanitarian principles,' and Sybiga said they also discussed 'shared challenges stemming from the deepening cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang,' which includes a 2024 mutual defence treaty.
Why it matters: Seoul's push to absorb the two POWs puts it on a collision course with both Pyongyang and Moscow, which signed a mutual defence treaty in 2024 obligating military assistance 'without delay.' The 7,000+ North Korean casualties in Kursk make the fate of these two a test case for whether captured troops can defect — a precedent North Korea is actively trying to prevent through suicide orders.
