Ukraine pledges to consider non-refoulement for detained N. Korean soldiers: civic group

SEOUL, March 24 (Yonhap) -- The Ukrainian government has affirmed that it will consider the humanitarian principle of not transferring prisoners of war against their will in the handling of two North Korean soldiers captured during its war with Russia, a civic group said Tuesday. The legal support bureau of Ukraine's defense ministry pledged to consider the non-refoulement principle for captured North Korean soldiers, a civic group supporting the prisoners of war said, citing a reply it received from Ukraine. The two young North Korean soldiers have been held in Ukraine for more than a year following Ukrainian forces' capture of them in January last year in what was once the front-line region of Russia's Kursk. Through South Korean media, the North Korean soldiers expressed a wish to come to South Korea, with Seoul voicing its willingness to receive them through consultations with Ukraine. It marks the first time that the Ukrainian government has expressed to a South Korean civic organization its willingness to consider the non-refoulement principle for the soldiers. The group still voiced lingering concerns that the soldiers could be transferred against their will, calling for their relocation to a civic protection facility and a change in their status to that of those eligible for international protection. North Korean soldiers, captured by Ukraine during the war with Russia, speak to a South Korean woman (L) at a detention center in Ukraine for prisoners of war, in this photo provided Oct. 31, 2025, by a civic group. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) pbr@yna.co.kr(END)