On Tuesday, the South Korean government announced that if North Korean soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces wish to be repatriated to South Korea, they could be considered citizens under the country’s Constitution. As a result, the South Korean government will discuss the matter with Ukrainian authorities.
A Ministry of Unification official told reporters, “The issue of the North Korean soldiers’ custody requires international legal review and consultations with relevant countries, so we need to monitor the situation as it unfolds closely.”
On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that Ukraine might release North Korean soldiers captured during the ongoing conflict in exchange for the release of Ukrainian soldiers held by Russia. Zelenskyy also made public interrogation footage of two North Korean soldiers, one of whom expressed a desire not to return to North Korea. This raised the possibility that the soldier could defect to South Korea.
In response, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) issued a statement the following day, emphasizing that “the individuals’ intentions are the most important,” adding, “If they express a willingness to defect, we will discuss the matter with Ukraine.”
Under the Geneva Conventions, the most widely recognized international law regarding prisoners of war, all prisoners should be released and repatriated to their home country without delay once a conflict ends.
However, looking at historical precedents, such as the Korean War, where prisoners who refused repatriation were sent to third countries like Taiwan, there is a possibility that North Korean prisoners could be brought to South Korea or other countries, regardless of the Geneva Conventions, following negotiations between the involved nations.
Despite these legal frameworks, several uncertainties remain. For one, Russian and North Korean authorities may refuse to acknowledge the soldiers’ deployment, meaning these individuals may not be recognized as prisoners of war. Additionally, there are concerns that some soldiers could have used fake identification to participate in the conflict, which could lead to them being treated not as North Korean prisoners but as Russian soldiers under Russian jurisdiction.