tirsdag 27. mai 2025

North Korean POWs in Ukraine excluded from Moscow-Kyiv prisoner swap: South lawmaker

Two captured North Korean soldiers fighting with Russia in its war against Ukraine were not among the 1,000 prisoners of war recently repatriated by Ukraine to Russia due to a request from Seoul, said a South Korean lawmaker. The soldiers, identified as Ri and Baek, were part of the more than 12,000 North Korean soldiers deployed to Russia’s Kursk region to fight Ukraine who occupied parts of the region in an August counteroffensive. The two were captured in January and have been in custody in Kyiv since then.

“I have confirmed through a Ukrainian source that Ri and Baek, former North Korean soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces, were excluded from the recent prisoner exchange list,” said Yu Yong-weon, a member of South Korea’s ruling People Power Party.