Captured NK soldier says he wishes to remain in Ukraine
A wounded soldier, suspected to be North Korean and captured by Ukrainian forces, is seen in this photo posted on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's X account, Jan. 11. Yonhap
Ukraine has released a rare video of two captured North Korean soldiers under interrogation, in which one of them said he wants to remain in Ukraine when asked if he wishes to return home.
The soldier with bandages on his hands made the remarks in the nearly three-minute footage released by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on X on Sunday, a day after he announced the two North Koreans' capture in Russia's western Kursk region.
During the interrogation, the soldier asked in Korean if Ukrainians were all good people, to which an interpreter replied, Ukraine is a good place to live.
"I want to live here," the soldier, lying down on a bed, said after a brief pause.
The soldier said he would go back home if he was required to but nodded when asked if he would stay in Ukraine if he was told to do so.
The soldier also indicated that he was unaware of being deployed for the war against Ukraine, turning his head from side to side when asked if he knew he was fighting Ukraine.
When asked what his commanders had told him, he replied, "(They) said we were going to be training like actual combat."
He said that he had been on the front line since Jan. 3 and that he had hid in a dugout.
"After seeing my comrades die, I hid in a dugout, and I was injured on Jan. 5," the soldier said.
The second captive had bandages over his jaw and appeared to be unable to speak properly.
When asked by the interpreter if he wished to return to North Korea, the soldier was initially unresponsive, but when the interpreter asked again, using "Joson," the North Korean term for the country's name, the soldier nodded.
The soldier also appeared to indicate that his parents did not know where he was when asked.
In his post on X, Zelenskyy said Ukraine is prepared to hand over captured North Korean soldiers in exchange for Ukrainian captives in Russia.
He also said that there may be other options for captured North Korean soldiers who do not wish to return.
Ukraine's security service said Saturday that the soldier with an injured jaw was born in 1999, while the other was born in 2005.
It said an interrogation of the two soldiers took place through a Korean interpreter in cooperation with South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) as they did not speak Ukrainian, Russian or English.
South Korea and the United States have accused North Korea of sending more than 10,000 troops to Russia to support Moscow's war with Ukraine. The NIS told lawmakers last month that at least 100 North Korean soldiers have been killed, with around 1,000 others injured. (Yonhap)