Zelenskyy: "North Korean POWs Repatriated at South Korea's Request"

[Financial News] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed on the 4th (local time) that Russia appeared to have shared jet-propelled drone technology with North Korea.
Regarding the controversy that arose after Zelenskyy recently disclosed that North Korean troops who had been in Ukraine were repatriated to South Korea, he added, "South Korea requested that the North Korean soldiers be handed over" and "Under South Korea's Constitution, they are also South Koreans."
However, he did not directly mention that South Korean President Lee Jae Myung had protested that Ukraine violated a confidential agreement to keep the repatriation of the POWs undisclosed.
Foreign media outlets reported that when Zelenskyy was asked by reporters that day whether Russia might have transferred jet-propelled drone technology to North Korea, he replied, "Yes, of course."
He continued, "They share all their technology with North Korea," adding, "I don't know what technologies, such as ballistic missiles, may have been shared, but I think so, because North Korea helped them with missiles."
Ukrainian media outlets, including Suspilne, provided a more detailed account of Zelenskyy's question-and-answer session on the matter.
According to the outlet, Zelenskyy said of the North Korean POWs captured by Ukrainian forces, "When we captured them, we obtained different information from before. They were not the North Korean troops who had initially arrived in Russia."
Zelenskyy emphasized, "They were given experience and trained. This included not only operating drones but also how to respond to electronic warfare systems, and acquiring such firsthand knowledge and combat experience is extremely dangerous."
Zelenskyy said he had shared information about the North Korean troops with Japan and argued, "Japan is a great country with outstanding technology, but it lacks experience conducting modern warfare, which is a very dangerous factor."
Zelenskyy said, "If Russia trains 50,000 (North Korean) troops to fight, that means the knowledge will be shared with hundreds of thousands of North Korean troops. Cooperation between Ukraine and Japan is very important in this regard, and I believe this serves the interests of both sides."


[email protected] Lee Seok-woo, international affairs specialist Reporter