
South Korean unification ministry’s spokesperson Koo Byoung-sam makes remarks throughout a press briefing in Seoul, Jan. 13. Yonhap
A assessment of worldwide regulation and consultations with related international locations will probably be obligatory if North Korean troopers captured by Ukraine whereas preventing for Russia are to be dropped at South Korea, Seoul’s unification ministry mentioned Monday.
The remarks by Koo Byoung-sam, the ministry’s spokesperson, got here after one of many North Korean troopers seized by Ukraine in Russia’s western Kursk area expressed his want to stay in Ukraine.
In a video shared by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on X the day gone by, one of many two captured North Korean troopers was seen asking if Ukrainians had been all good folks and, after an interpreter replied positively, saying, „I need to stay right here.“
Requested about the potential for their switch to South Korea, the ministry spokesperson responded that the ministry wouldn’t make any presumptive statements.
He, nonetheless, added that the matter requires a authorized assessment, together with issues of worldwide regulation, and consultations with associated nations.
Below the Geneva Conventions, prisoners of battle needs to be launched or repatriated instantly after the conclusion of the battle.
If North Korean troopers preventing for Russia are captured and acknowledged as belonging to the Russian navy, they have to be repatriated to Russia below worldwide regulation. (Yonhap)