Zelensky ‘ready’ to hand North Korean POWs to Pyongyang

KYIV, Ukraine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday he was ready to hand captured North Korean soldiers to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in exchange for the return of Ukrainian POWs from Russia.

“Ukraine is ready to hand over Kim Jong Un´s soldiers to him if he can organise their exchange for our warriors who are being held captive in Russia,” Zelensky wrote on X.Ukrainian and Western assessments say that some 11,000 troops from Russia’s ally North Korea have been deployed in the Kursk region to support Moscow’s forces. Russia has neither confirmed nor denied their presence. Zelensky has said Russian and North Korean forces had suffered heavy losses.”Ukraine is ready to hand over Kim Jong Un’s soldiers to him if he can organise their exchange for our warriors who are being held captive in Russia,” Zelensky said.

Zelensky posted a short video showing the interrogation of two men who are presented as North Korean soldiers. One of them is lying on a bed with bandaged hands, the other is sitting with a bandage on his jaw.

One of the men said through an interpreter that he did not know he was fighting against Ukraine and had been told he was on a training exercise.

He said he hid in a shelter during the offensive and was found a couple of days later. He said that if he was ordered to return to North Korea, he would, but said he was ready to stay in Ukraine if given the chance.