Zelensky offers to exchange North Korean troops detained by Kim Jong Un...Alluding to the possibility of going to Korea?

[Anchor]
As the video of two North Korean soldiers captured by the Ukrainian military is released, attention is being paid to whether the actual dispatch of North Korean troops will be revealed.

President Zelensky sent an open message to Kim Jong-un in Korean to exchange Ukrainian and North Korean troops, drawing attention to his intentions.

I'm reporter Jeong Yu-shin on the report.

[Reporter]
The North Korean prisoners who received emergency treatment after being captured are 20 and 26 years old in our age, born in 2005 and 1999.

With the cooperation of our National Intelligence Service, investigations are being conducted through Korean interpreters and are known to be relatively cooperative.

[20-year-old North Korean soldier: (Who did you say you're going to fight?) You're going to train like a real game]

They stated that they carried false identification cards of the Republic of Tuba and had no idea they were being put into war.

Currently, both are not life-threatening and have been escorted to Kyiv for treatment and questioning.

[Ukrainian Military Medics: One injured his face and needs dental treatment, and the other injured his leg joint. I'll take care of it until it's completely cured.]

The 26-year-old North Korean prisoner has served in the military as a sniper officer since 2016, and is currently responding to the investigation in writing because he is unable to speak due to a jaw injury.

It also includes officers, so specific information may come out about the true nature of the North Korean military's dispatch, known as the so-called "storm squad."

We are also interested in whether they can be repatriated to Korea if they want.

Last year, the National Intelligence Service said that if North Korean troops sent to the country request defection, they will have to accept it under international and domestic laws.

[26-year-old North Korean officer: (Do you want to go back to North Korea?) (Nodding)]

[20-year-old North Korean prisoner: (Do you want to go home?) "If you want to go home, I'll go" (Nodding)]

In the midst of this, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy openly proposed to Kim Jong-un to exchange North Korean prisoners in Korean, drawing attention.

It is possible to release North Korean prisoners on the condition of delivering Ukrainian troops detained in Russia.

However, so far, neither Russia nor North Korea has admitted nor denied sending North Korean troops.

For this reason, some analysts say that Zelensky left the possibility of going to South Korea open by saying, "There may be other ways for North Korean soldiers who do not want to return, and there will also be opportunities for South Korea."

This is YTN Jeong Yu-shin.