One of the two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukraine has expressed his wish to go to South Korea, a news report said Wednesday, in what would be the first known case for a North Korean captive to voice an intent to defect to the South.
A North Korean soldier, identified only by his surname Ri, said in an interview with the Chosun Ilbo that he never knew he would engage in combat against Ukraine as he was told that he would be sent to Russia for training as an overseas student.
“I have made up my mind 80 percent … Above all, I will seek refuge and am thinking about going to the Republic of Korea [ROK]. If I apply for asylum, would they take me?” Ri said, when asked about his plan for the future.
Ri is one of the two wounded North Korean soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces last month during combat against Ukraine in Russia’s Kursk region.
It marked the first time that a North Korean soldier captured by Ukraine has expressed an intent to defect to South Korea since North Korea sent around 11,000 troops to support Russia in its war against Ukraine.
Ri, born in 1999 and served as a scout sniper in North Korea, said he belongs to the Reconnaissance General Bureau, the North’s intelligence agency.
Officials from the North’s state security ministry told troops that “pilots of the Ukrainian military’s drones are all ROK soldiers,” Ri said, adding that he engaged in combat with Ukraine while believing he was fighting against South Korean troops.
Ri, who sustained serious wounds to his jaw and arm, said almost all his comrades from a military unit were killed due to Ukraine’s drones and artillery attacks. He also said he could have tried to blow himself up if he had a grenade because being held prisoner in North Korea amounts to a betrayal.
As a North Korean soldier captured by Ukraine has expressed his wish to defect, what draws attention will be whether the South Korean government would kick off consultations with Ukraine over the issue.
South Korea’s Constitution stipulates that the entire Korean Peninsula is defined as its territory, effectively recognizing all residents on the peninsula as its nationals.
“As North Korean soldiers are our nationals according to the Constitution, [the government] plans to hold discussions with Ukraine if they request defection to South Korea,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lee Jae-woong told a press briefing last month.
The National Intelligence Service, Seoul’s spy agency, also cast a similar stance during a parliamentary session in January that what intent North Korean prisoners have is very important.
However, it remains unknown whether the process of bringing such North Korean captives to South Korea would be smooth, as the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War (POWs) stipulates that POWs shall be released and repatriated without delay after the cessation of active hostilities.
Some experts, however, argue that the North’s case may be an exception to such a repatriation duty per reference documents from the International Committee of the Red Cross, given that Ri could face serious human rights violations if he is sent back to North Korea.
Yonhap
