Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted this image of a captured North Korean soldier on social media platform X, Jan. 11, 2025. (ZelenskyyUa/X)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has released a video of the first North Korean soldiers captured in Russia’s Kursk region and said Kyiv is willing to swap the prisoners of war for its troops held by Moscow.
In a video posted Sunday on Zelenskyy’s Facebook and X accounts, two bedridden and apparently injured North Korean soldiers are questioned by Ukrainian forces through an interpreter.
The unnamed soldiers were captured by Ukrainian special operations forces in the past week and were receiving medical care in Kyiv, Zelenskyy wrote.
One of the soldiers, with cuts on his lip and a bandage across his face, nodded his head in agreement when asked if he had family in North Korea. He also nodded after being asked if he wanted to return to the North.
A second soldier with a bandage on his hand shook his head in disagreement when asked if he knew where he was and if he knew he was fighting against Ukraine.
“They said it was realistic training,” the soldier said in an accent primarily used in North Korea.
The soldier said he wanted to stay in Ukraine, but added, “If they tell me to leave, I’ll leave.”
The soldiers have not yet expressed a desire to defect to South Korea, South Korean Reps. Lee Seong-kweun and Park Sun-won said Monday during a press conference in Seoul. They cited a closed-door briefing from National Intelligence Service officials earlier that day.
North Korean soldiers from the battlefield also possessed notes that indicate they were encouraged to kill themselves, rather than be captured, the lawmakers said, citing the intelligence briefing.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted this image of Russian military identification used by a captured North Korean soldier on social media platform X, Jan. 11, 2025. (ZelenskyyUa/X)
Ukraine “is ready to hand over Kim Jong Un’s soldiers to him if he can organize their exchange for our warriors” held in Russia, Zelenskyy wrote in a statement with the video, referring to the North Korean leader.
Ukraine and Russia have exchanged prisoners of war throughout their 23-month-old conflict. Both sides released around 150 prisoners last month, the 10th such exchange mediated by the United Arab Emirates, according to a UAE Foreign Affairs Ministry news release Dec. 30.
Zelenskyy wrote “there will undoubtedly be more” North Korean prisoners of war and “there may be other options available” for those who do not want to return to their country.
“In particular, those who express a desire to bring peace closer by spreading the truth about this war in Korean will be given that opportunity,” he said.
North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency has yet to confirm that Pyongyang has deployed soldiers to fight alongside Russia against Ukraine. The North has characterized the Russia-Ukraine war as an affront against Moscow instigated by the United States and its European allies.
Meanwhile, militaries and intelligence agencies from the U.S., Ukraine and South Korea have estimated that up to 12,000 North Korean troops have deployed to Russia since October. The three countries have also accused Pyongyang of supplying Moscow with munitions ranging from artillery shells to ballistic missiles.
At least 3,800 North Korean troops were killed or wounded during heavy fighting in Russia’s western front, Zelenskyy said in an interview with the Lex Fridman Podcast on Jan. 6.
Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin during a June summit in Pyongyang pledged to provide each other with immediate military aid if either country was at war.
