Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 17, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleSouth Korea discusses with Ukraine the handling of North Korean POWs, amid North Korea's military support for Russia in the Ukraine conflict.
SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul sought Kyiv's cooperation in the handling of North Korean prisoners of war during a telephone call on Monday with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
North Korea has deployed thousands of troops to support Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, Ukrainian, U.S. and South Korean assessments show, for Pyongyang's first major involvement in a war since the 1950s.
Cho reaffirmed Seoul's efforts to support the Ukrainian people and said Seoul would accept all North Korean soldiers captured by Ukraine if they wished to go to South Korea, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Kyiv says more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers were killed or injured in Russia by early January 2025.
This year Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said they suspected Pyongyang was preparing to send more troops to Russia to fight Ukrainian forces, despite suffering losses and the capture of some of its soldiers.
In January, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine captured two North Korean soldiers in Russia's Kursk region, in his country's first revelation of such captives taken alive since their entry into the war last autumn.
(Reporting by Hyunsu YimEditing by Bernadette Baum)
South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul discussed the handling of North Korean prisoners of war with his Ukrainian counterpart during a telephone call.
Kyiv reported that more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers were killed or injured in Russia by early January 2025.
South Korea has stated that it would accept all North Korean soldiers captured by Ukraine if they wish to go to South Korea.
North Korea has deployed thousands of troops to support Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, marking its first major involvement in a war since the Korean War.
In January, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy revealed that Ukraine captured two North Korean soldiers in Russia's Kursk region.
Explore more articles in the Headlines category
