North Koreaʼs participation in the war against Ukraine and weapons from South Korea. The main points from Zelenskyʼs interview

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky gave an interview to the South Korean TV channel KBS. He talked about North Koreaʼs participation in the war against Ukraine, weapons from South Korea, and the end of the war.

Babel gathered his main theses.

Participation of the DPRK in the war against Ukraine

North Korean troops are already in the Kursk region of Russia, but have not yet taken part in hostilities. Zelensky calls it "a matter of days, not months." In his opinion, Russia will push as many North Korean soldiers into battle as possible so that they die instead of the Russians.

Sending North Korean troops to Ukraine is also beneficial for the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, because here they will gain experience in conducting modern warfare, which is already a threat to South Korea.

According to Zelensky, the number of North Korean soldiers sent will directly depend on the worldʼs reaction. Now it is zero, he says. And the leader of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin is testing the world with this and, seeing that the partners do not react decisively to the participation of the North Koreans in the war against Ukraine, he may attract even more soldiers from the DPRK in the future.

Ukraine also has information that Russia and the DPRK are negotiating to send engineering troops and civilians from North Korea to work at Russian military factories. They are recruited in exchange for weapons and money from Russia.

Responsibility of the DPRK

Decisions on the response to North Korea will be made after the combat use of North Korean soldiers in Ukraine. Zelensky did not rule out an appeal to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

"We will make a decision after the combat use of the North Korean army against citizens of Ukraine. But if South Korea will support our respective ways, then — I think, together with our allies — we are ready to take appropriate steps," Zelensky replied.

Exchange of North Korean prisoners

Zelensky emphasized that Ukraine respects international law and treats prisoners of war of all states equally. He emphasized that if North Korean soldiers are captured, they will be exchanged for captured Ukrainians.

Weapons from South Korea

In the near future, Ukraine will officially ask South Korea for military assistance — it is about artillery, air defense systems and more, but the president did not provide details. He clarified that he did not know how Seoul would respond to such a request.

Cooperation with South Korea

Ukraine is expecting a group of specialists from South Korea, with whom they will exchange data. So far, Zelensky does not know what exactly they will do, but this cooperation is beneficial for everyone, and South Korea will also gain experience in waging modern warfare. At the same time, Ukraine needs Korean experience in air defense and cooperation in the defense-industrial complex.

Ambassador of Ukraine to South Korea

Zelensky has already decided on the candidacy of Ukraineʼs ambassador to South Korea.

"I am not yet ready to say who it will be. I have already decided who I will send, and I really hope that our group can be seen by the leadership of your state. We talked about it. But it will be after the meeting of your team in Ukraine," the president said.

The end of the war

The president emphasized that Ukraine will never agree to cede territories in exchange for ending the war. According to him, this will not be affected by the result of the presidential elections in the USA — the new leader can either strengthen support for Ukraine or weaken it. Weakening of support will not give Ukraine a chance to win, Zelensky said.

In particular, Zelensky commented on the words of the US presidential candidate Donald Trump, who promised to "quickly end the war in Ukraine" if he wins the election. He says that if Trump wants to end the war by forcing Ukraine to cede its territories, then he "wonʼt succeed."

The Kursk operation

The Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region is a slap in the face to Russia. To repulse the attack, the Russian Federation has concentrated up to 45 000 troops in the region and will increase their number, in particular at the expense of soldiers from the DPRK. Zelensky repeated that Ukraine launched an operation in Russia to prevent a new Russian offensive on Sumy and Kharkiv, and created a buffer zone.

For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.