Recently, among the 1,000 prisoners of war that Ukraine returned to Russia, two North Korean soldiers who expressed their intention to defect to Korea or are considering it were not included in the list.
According to People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Yong-won, who is a member of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, two North Korean soldiers, Lee Mo and Baek Mo, captured by Ukrainian forces last January, were excluded from the Russia-Ukraine prisoner exchange list.
Lawmaker Yoo noted, "Ukrainian sources say that the exclusion of these individuals from the prisoner exchange is understood as a response from the Ukrainian government to a request from the Korean government."
Earlier, Russia and Ukraine agreed on a prisoner exchange of 1,000 each during negotiations in Istanbul, Turkey, on the 16th, and from the 23rd, they exchanged approximately 300 prisoners each day for three days. Lee and Baek were deployed to Russia and were captured by Ukrainian forces last January.
Lawmaker Yoo visited Ukraine in February and met with them, revealing that Lee expressed his desire to deflect, stating, "I really want to go to Korea."
In the recording made public by Yoo, Lee said, "If I become a prisoner and go back to my country, my parents will probably not be there anymore. Thinking about that makes me feel drained all day."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated a basic principle that if North Korean prisoners request to go to Korea, they will be accommodated, and this position has been conveyed to the Ukrainian side.