Two North Korean prisoners of war captured in Ukraine have written a letter expressing their desire to defect and start a new life in South Korea.
SEOUL: Two North Korean prisoners of war held by Ukraine have expressed their hope to start a “new life” in South Korea.
In a letter seen by AFP, the soldiers wrote that “new dreams and aspirations have begun to take root” thanks to South Korean support.
The letter, dated late October, was shared by a Seoul-based rights group working to help North Korean defectors.
It marks the first time the two men have stated their desire to defect in their own words.
South Korean and Western intelligence agencies report that North Korea has sent thousands of troops to aid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
South Korean estimates indicate at least 600 North Korean soldiers have died, with thousands more injured.
Analysts state Pyongyang is receiving financial aid, military technology, and supplies from Moscow in return.
The South Korean intelligence service says North Korean soldiers are ordered to kill themselves rather than be captured.
The prisoners thanked those working on their behalf for seeing their situation “as the beginning of a new life”.
“We firmly believe that we are never alone, and we think of those in South Korea as our own parents and siblings and have decided to go into their embrace,” they wrote.
Under South Korea’s constitution, all Koreans, including those from the North, are considered citizens.
The letter was delivered during an interview for a documentary coordinated by the Gyeore-eol Nation United rights group.
GNU chief Jang Se-yul, a North Korean defector, said the pair pleaded to be sent to South Korea during the interview.
The interview took place at an undisclosed facility in Kyiv where the two are being held.
Lawmaker Yu Yong-weon, who met the prisoners in February, said they described seeing wounded comrades kill themselves.
Yu stated that sending the soldiers back to North Korea would constitute “a death sentence”.
South Korea’s foreign ministry has urged Ukraine not to forcibly repatriate the prisoners against their will.
The ministry has asked that the soldiers’ desire to go to South Korea be respected.
