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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Unfortunate Russia hasn’t been able to finish Zelenskyy. Hasn’t been an election there in nearly a decade
If Ukraine doesn’t let them go free after how much support Korea has given to them, then no more anything! No money, no weapons or humanitarian aid. Nothing!
9:25 why is she holding that folder/map to cover here face?
Lots of support for two North Korean soldiers that were sent to Ukraine to kill Ukrainian soldiers but no sympathy for those Ukrainians that had to die fighting these two guys. Maybe the pressure should be directed at North Korea's Kim Jung Une and Putin since they are the reason for these two being in Ukraine to begin with. This is sad for everyone concerned but Ukraine must do what is best for Ukraine.
This was an excellent piece of journalism. Thanks Aljazeera, I learned a lot. ✌🏾✊🏾
My gosh to the north koreans, Kim is god and his subjects pledged to be expandable kamikaze pilots/canon fodder. 😢
That,s a difficult situation, really. I do remember in past when Germany East and West still where separated. There - was sometimes a prisoner exchange also - for money. The West German government bought them of prison. Perhaps this can work. Think about! Good luck.
The elephant in the room is SK has no concern for NK soldiers' fate. As for Ukraine, they should absolutely use NK soldiers captured to trade with captured Ukraine soldiers if anyone wants NK soldiers back. But problem with that is NK doesn't want them and Russia has no use for them. Captured NK soldiers have very little to no value to all parties. Only way out for NK soldiers is to fight for Ukraine and perhaps earn their freedom or die trying. Truly fuxxed up case.
Their faces have already been revealed in Korean media.
They would be sent back to North Korea no doubt about it. Nobody cares what happens to them.
The sequences have been taken many months ago, I did see them in a korean documentary, specially the girl who visite them
they were abandoned in some field, left to die. ukraine risked soldiers to drag them out of there. of course, their reason was to show north koreans to the media. but in the end - they are still in this world thanks to ukraine. the audacity from south korea to demand anything. they were human weapons, trained to attack south korea. ukraine processed thousands of them. that bullet that was aimed at a south korean, will not be shot at him, because ukraine received that attack. absolutely zero gratitude. south korea sitting on a mountain of old equipment they will never use, even dares to demand about their two precious little angel boys. they were killers only a year ago.
"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?
If he didn’t go back at the end of the fighting in Kursk then his family’s sadly lost already . They would know he was either captured or killed and most likely just to make sure take his family . We’re talking about a dictator .
If they go to South Korea their family’s will still die . That happened to all defectors family thats the actual policy
They just wanted to defend Russia from Ukrainian invasion in Russian kursh region.
Faces are plain as day 🤔
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.
Ukraine, the stinks of communism. Ukraine is spreading the war and is not sending them to Korea, the destination they desire.
He actually says exterminated omg