澤連斯基提出釋放被俘朝鮮士兵，以換取被俄羅斯關押的烏克蘭士兵

 Recently CNN News on-line reported the following:

Zelensky offers to release captured North Korean soldiers in exchange for Ukrainian soldiers held in Russia

By Adam Pourahmadi and Audry Jeong, CNN

Updated 4:56 PM EST, Sun January 12, 2025

CNN

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is willing to release North Korean soldiers captured by Ukraine in the Kursk region of Russia in exchange for Ukrainian soldiers being held captive in Russia.

“Ukraine is ready to hand over (North Korean leader) Kim Jong Un’s soldiers to him if he can organize their exchange for our warriors who are being held captive in Russia,” Zelensky said Sunday in a post on X that included a video purportedly showing two North Korean POWs being interrogated.

On Saturday, Ukraine said it had captured two North Korean soldiers, marking the first time that Kyiv has captured soldiers alive from the isolated state.

Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang have officially acknowledged the presence of North Korean troops in Russia.

CNN has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment, and is seeking comment from North Korea.

In the video shared by Zelensky on Sunday, both soldiers appear injured and are likely speaking under duress. A Korean-speaking voice can be heard translating questions from the interrogator.

One soldier has a wound to his jaw, the other has bandaged hands.

One of the soldiers, who appears in the video lying down, says he did not know he was fighting in a war against Ukraine and that his commanders told him it was a training exercise.

The interrogator, whose voice has been modulated to obscure their identity, asks both soldiers whether they want to return to North Korea, according to a CNN translation of the video.

One nods, the other – after further prompting from the translator, who asks, “Do you like it here in Ukraine? It’s nicer here” – says he wants to stay in Ukraine but adds later that he will do as he is told.

In his daily address later Sunday, Zelensky claimed that one of the soldiers had “expressed a desire to stay in Ukraine.”

According to Ukrainian and Western assessments, some 11,000 North Korean troops are deployed in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces occupy several hundred square kilometers after staging a cross-border incursion in August last year.

Ukraine estimates more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded in Kursk, while a senior US official said North Korea has seen “several hundred” casualties – both killed and wounded – in the region since October.

In video released Saturday by Ukraine’s Security Service, a spokesman says one of the North Koreans was captured on January 9 by Ukrainian special forces, and the other by Ukrainian paratroopers.

In his statement on X, Zelensky vowed to capture more North Korean soldiers.

“In addition to the first captured soldiers from North Korea, there will undoubtedly be more. It’s only a matter of time before our troops manage to capture others. There should be no doubt left in the world that the Russian army is dependent on military assistance from North Korea,” Zelensky said on X.

Officials in Kyiv have accused Russia of trying to cover up the involvement of North Korean soldiers on the battlefield.

Translation

澤連斯基提出釋放被俘朝鮮士兵，以換取被俄羅斯關押的烏克蘭士兵

烏克蘭總統澤連斯基表示，願意釋放烏克蘭在俄羅斯庫爾斯克地區虜獲的北韓士兵，以交換被俄羅斯關押的烏克蘭士兵。

澤連斯基週日在X 上的一篇貼文中表示：「烏克蘭願意將（北韓領導人）金正恩的士兵交還給他，只要他能達成交換我們被俄羅斯關押的戰士。」該貼文還附上了一段據稱顯示兩名北韓戰俘正在接受審訊。

週六，烏克蘭表示已抓獲兩名北韓士兵，這是基輔首次從孤立狀態下活捉北韓士兵。

莫斯科和平壤均未正式承認北韓軍隊在俄羅斯出现。

CNN 已聯繫俄羅斯國防部徵求意見，並正在尋求北韓的評論。

在澤連斯基週日分享的影片中，有兩名士兵都看起來受傷了，很可能是在脅迫下說話的。可以聽到有韓語聲音翻譯出審訊人員的問題。

一名士兵下巴受傷，另一名士兵手上纏著繃帶。

影片中躺著的一名士兵表示，他不知道自己正在與烏克蘭作戰，指揮官告訴他這只是訓練演習。

根據美國有線電視新聞網 (CNN) 對影片的翻譯，審訊人員的聲音經過了調整，以掩蓋其身份，他詢問兩名士兵是否想返回北韓。

一個人點點頭，另一個人 - 在翻譯的進一步提示下問道：「你喜歡烏克蘭這裡嗎？這裡更好」 - 說他想留在烏克蘭，但後來又補充說，他會照著吩咐去做。

澤連斯基在周日晚些時候的每日演講中聲稱，其中一名士兵「表達了留在烏克蘭的願望」。

根據烏克蘭和西方評估，北韓約有1.1萬軍隊部署在庫爾斯克地區。烏克蘭軍隊去年8月越境入侵後佔領了該地區數百平方公里的土地。

烏克蘭估計，已有 3,000 多名朝鮮士兵在庫爾斯克陣亡或受傷，而一名美國高級官員表示，自 10 月以來，北韓在該地區已有「數百人」傷亡。

烏克蘭安全局發言人週六發佈的影片稱，一名北韓人於 1 月 9 日被烏克蘭特種部隊抓獲，另一名北韓人被烏克蘭傘兵抓獲。

澤連斯基在X平台發表聲明，誓言要俘虜更多北韓士兵。

連斯基在 X 平台表示:「除了首次被俘的北韓士兵外，毫無疑問還會有更多。我們的部隊成功捕獲其他士兵只是時間問題。世界上不應該再有懷疑，俄羅斯軍隊依賴北韓的軍事援助」。

基輔官員指責俄羅斯試圖掩蓋北韓士兵參與戰事的情況。

              So, Ukraine spokesman says that two North Koreans were captured, one by Ukrainian special forces, and the other by Ukrainian paratroopers. Ukrainian President Zelensky has said he is willing to release North Korean soldiers captured by Ukraine in the Kursk region of Russia in exchange for Ukrainian soldiers being held captive in Russia. Apparently, it will be an embarrassing proposal for Putin.