South Korean lawmaker says North Korean prisoner of war wants ‘normal life’ in Seoul
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A South Korean soldier (left) and United Nations Command soldiers in the the demilitarised zone between the two Koreas in 2022.
PHOTO: AFP
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Seoul - A South Korean lawmaker said on March 4 that a North Korean soldier captured by Ukraine wanted to live a “normal life” in the South, after Seoul vowed to offer citizenship to Pyongyang’s troops.
In January, Seoul’s National Intelligence Service confirmed that the Ukrainian military had captured two of around 10,000 North Korean soldiers they estimate have been sent by leader Kim Jong Un
Lawmaker Yu Yong-weon said that he was able to meet the two soldiers, who remain in Ukrainian custody in a detention facility in an undisclosed location, after submitting a request to the Kyiv authorities.
“The moment I faced the two young prisoners, I was overwhelmed with emotions – compassion, sympathy, and an innate sense of empathy,” said Mr Yu in a press conference.
One of the soldiers told him that he wanted to move to South Korea so that he could eventually reunite with his parents, Mr Yu recounted.
He also said that the soldier asked if he would be able to “live as I wish with the rights I hope for” if he goes to South Korea, and if he would be able to “have a home and start a family there”.
Under South Korea’s Constitution, all Koreans, including those who live in the North, are considered citizens, and officials reaffirmed in February that this would apply to any troops captured in Ukraine.
Sending the soldiers back to the North would be “essentially a death sentence”, Mr Yu said.
North Korean troops have been instructed to kill themselves rather than be captured, South Korean intelligence has said, and Mr Yu said the soldiers told him they had witnessed multiple suicides by grenade by their injured comrades.
“Even as prisoners of war, North Korean soldiers are constitutionally recognised as South Korean citizens and must be protected accordingly,” Mr Yu added.
In 2019, the South Korean government expelled two North Korean men after investigators said the pair murdered 16 crewmates before taking their fishing boat to South Korean waters.
It was the first-ever transfer from the South to the North since the end of the Korean War.
New images were released three years later, showing one man desperately resisting the handover. AFP
