1 of 2 | On Saturday, January 11, 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared photographs of two North Korean military personnel captured by Ukrainian soldiers in the occupied Kursk region of Russia. The two wounded soldiers were transferred to Kyiv, where they are now speaking with the Security Service of Ukraine. According to Zelenskyy, “Russian forces and other North Korean military personnel usually execute their wounded to erase any evidence of North Korea’s involvement in the war against Ukraine.” File Photo via President of Ukraine/UPI | License Photo

Jan. 5 (Asia Today) — A South Korean North Korean human rights coalition said Monday it has petitioned Ukrainian authorities to protect two detained North Korean soldiers and refrain from including them in any prisoner exchange with Russia.

The Association of Civil Society Organizations for North Korean Human Rights said its affiliated Emergency Committee for the Free Repatriation of North Korean Soldiers submitted the petition Saturday with the Ukrainian nongovernmental International Human Rights Protection Committee to Ukraine’s War Prisoner Treatment Coordination Headquarters.

The petition seeks official registration for protection of the two prisoners and the start of international protection procedures, citing concerns they could face severe punishment if returned to North Korea via Russia after expressing a desire to go to South Korea.

The group asked Ukrainian authorities to apply the non-refoulement principle under international humanitarian law and international human rights law. It also requested guaranteed lawyer visits and legal assistance under the Third Geneva Convention and urged immediate steps through the International Committee of the Red Cross and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

An emergency committee representative said the Ukrainian partner group told them Kyiv and Moscow were discussing completing prisoner exchange arrangements by April, adding the North Korean prisoners were not under international protection by either the ICRC or UNHCR.

The representative said the group opposes treating prisoners as “bargaining chips” and argued they should be handled as subjects of human rights protection.

The Ukrainian partner organization plans to visit the War Prisoner Treatment Coordination Headquarters on Thursday to confirm the status of the petition and seek talks on practical protection steps, including registration and coordination through international organizations.

The South Korean group cited handwritten letters it released last month that it said were written by the North Korean prisoners and expressed a wish to go to South Korea. It also said that when People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Yong-won met the prisoners during a trip to Ukraine in March, one clearly stated a desire to go to South Korea while the other said he was still considering it.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in responses issued Monday and in November that the two North Korean prisoners of war are considered South Korean citizens under the Constitution and that Seoul’s basic principle is to accept all who request to come to South Korea under relevant laws and regulations.

The ministry said it has conveyed that position to Ukraine through diplomatic channels and is urging Ukrainian authorities not to forcibly repatriate North Korean prisoners of war against their will, requesting they be handled according to their free will.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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