In January 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced to the world the capture of two North Korean soldiers. It was the first hard evidence that Kim Jong Un had secretly deployed some 15,000 special forces troops to support the Russian invasion of Ukraine in exchange for billions of dollars worth of military technology and cash for Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme. But posting the POWs’ images online and opening their prison doors to media caused alarm, with international human rights organisations arguing that such exposure breaches the Geneva Convention and puts the soldiers and their families in North Korea in grave danger. As Russia’s war on Ukraine continues, 101 East investigates whether North Korean POWs are being used as political pawns and the challenges of bringing them to safety in South Korea. Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on X : https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/ Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/ Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.news/AJEMobile #documentary #northkorea #ukraine #russia #southkorea #kimjongun #vladimirputin #volodymyrzelenskyy
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The defector is right, treating North Korea like an average country is a mistake. Too skewed towards madness.
To all who support dictatorship.
This is an excellent investigative documentary—well done! AJ!
If they send them back to South Korea, then that would be incentive for Notth Korean forced soldiers to surrender once they get close to Ukrainian lines and it will make North Korea reluctant to keep supplying troops, weakening Russia’s ability to get more meat for the grinder.
Slava Ukraini
김영미 pd님은 한국에서 유명한 종전기자입니다 이 다큐 전편은 한국에서 반영되었는데 많은 사람들의 공감을 얻었습니다 좋은 보도 감사합니다
Being worried bout beeing sent back and then the family dies or go to South Korea and Kim jong un find out your family dead aswell even if he see this they family dead this is just a loose loose situation what a disgrace very sad 😔
Sad how people are treated in Communist and Socialist governments.
Thank you for posting AJ
Please agree to send them to Seoul. Please ❤
God please pull down the North Korean Government and let the people go free!! In Your Holy Name, thank You Jesus.
Great documentary 👏
Asking your Ally NK to sent troops to fight and die in YOUR Senseless war F Putin 😡 I honestly don't know how God is going to accept him in God's Kingdom after his death
이 아이들을 집으로 데려오세요!
Look if they do not fight back and surrender give them to South Korea otherwise back to Russia no mercy no pitty only justice they came to kill Ukrainian soldiers on Ukrainian territory 😮 SLAVA UKRAINE GLORY TO THE WARRIOR'S DEFENDER'S OF UKRAINE 🎉🎉 VIVA A UKRANIA VIVA 🎉🎉 FREE UKRAINE ❤❤
This was an excellent piece of journalism. Thanks Aljazeera, I learned a lot. ✌🏾✊🏾
Okay fine now , let's pardon him.
Why are they criticizing the South Korean government? The people appearing in this video are opposition politicians who oppose the current government. It is not the South Korean government that is exploiting North Korean prisoners of war for political purposes, but these opposition figures. They oppose the government's efforts to maintain peace on the Korean Peninsula and constantly create political controversies in order to strengthen their own position. They continue to provoke North Korea and increase tensions. Because they would benefit politically from the return of the impeached Yoon Suk Yeol administration, they are using the issue of North Korean prisoners of war as a way to attack the current government. Ukraine is not simply sending the North Korean prisoners to South Korea. Instead, some people are demanding that South Korea violate its own laws and provide lethal weapons in exchange. What is the government supposed to do in that situation? These are not soldiers that South Korea deployed abroad. Even when the government tries to bring them to South Korea on humanitarian grounds, there are people insisting that South Korea should break its own laws, and opposition politicians are exploiting the issue for political purposes. In reality, they are criticizing the Lee Jae-myung government for failing to achieve something that even the Yoon Suk Yeol administration—the government they supported—was unable to accomplish. In South Korea, these opposition figures represent a minority that has failed to gain the support of most citizens because of what many people see as misinformation and self-serving political behavior. Every country has groups that put their own interests above the public good. The problem is that documentaries featuring only opposition politicians can create serious misunderstandings among international audiences who are unfamiliar with the realities of the Korean Peninsula. Such one-sided presentations can give viewers a distorted impression of the situation in both South Korea and North Korea.
"Can't they just let them go?" - Mam, are you kidding? Ukrainian soldiers are being starved and beaten to half death in Russian prisons, and since 2022 the Red Cross hasn't visited a single Ukrainian POW, because Russia denies the access to them, yet Ukraine should just release Russian POWs?! Is it a joke?
Seems buckshot would be the best way of downing a drone