Human rights watchdog to ask Foreign Ministry to work for transfer of North Korean POWs in Ukraine
Published: 14 Apr. 2026, 10:06
![North Korean soldiers, captured by Ukraine during the war with Russia, speak to a South Korean woman, left, at a detention center in Ukraine for prisoners of war in this photo provided by a civic group on Oct. 31, 2025. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/04/14/d3359de3-26c7-497a-9c14-513dec6fc749.jpg)
North Korean soldiers, captured by Ukraine during the war with Russia, speak to a South Korean woman, left, at a detention center in Ukraine for prisoners of war in this photo provided by a civic group on Oct. 31, 2025. [YONHAP]
The state human rights watchdog said on Tuesday it has decided to ask Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Prime Minister Kim Min-seok to work for the swift transfer of two North Korean soldiers held in Ukraine to South Korea.
The National Human Rights Commission made the decision at a plenary session — with its members agreeing to “state their opinion” rather than “recommend” the measure — on Monday.
Two North Korean soldiers have been held as prisoners of war in Ukraine since early last year. Both expressed their desire to defect to South Korea in interviews aired by broadcaster MBC last January.
Kim Young-mi, the TV producer who conducted the interviews in Ukraine, attended Monday's meeting and asserted their wish to defect and said that one soldier told her he would kill himself before being sent back to North Korea rather than face severe punishment there.
The case had been discussed during the commission's previous plenary session last month, but it has not been resolved due to opinions that more time should be given to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to come up with its own measures.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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