This photo obtained in January from the Telegram channel V_Zelenskiy_official shows a North Korean soldier detained by Ukrainian authorities at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. AFP-Yonhap

Human rights activists in South Korea and overseas on Tuesday urged Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to send North Korean prisoners of war (POW) to the South, saying it would not only be the right thing to do but would also help Ukraine's war efforts against Russia.

In an open letter sent to the Ukrainian Embassy in Seoul, the Transitional Justice Working Group and eight other organizations expressed respect for Ukrainians' fight for democracy and freedom, while urging their leader to honor the North Koreans' desire for freedom and survival.

“We urge Ukraine to respect the free will of North Korean prisoners of war to go to South Korea. This will not only be the right thing to do for Ukraine, but it may also help Ukraine's war efforts in the long term by inducing more North Korean soldiers to surrender or defect,” the groups said.

After capturing two North Korean soldiers in Russia's Kursk region in January, Zelenskyy said he was ready to hand them over to Pyongyang in exchange for the return of Ukrainians held in Russia, under Article 109 of the Geneva Convention relative to the treatment of POWs.

But signing such a deal will probably lead to the death of the North Koreans, the groups said.

“The Geneva Convention was drafted in a humanitarian spirit and under the premise that the country of origin would protect, not persecute, its own POWs. This is not the case with North Korea, which is more likely to mete out draconian punishment to the soldiers who surrender and their families as traitors,” they said.

Article 45 of the convention states that civilians shall not be “transferred to a country where they may have reason to fear persecution for their political opinions or religious beliefs.” Article 5 (4) of the Additional Protocol II on Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts also states that “If it is decided to release persons deprived of their liberty, necessary measures to ensure their safety shall be taken by those so deciding.”

The groups also noted that the 1953 Korean War armistice agreement established an important precedent by providing that only POWs “who insist[ed] on repatriation to the side to which they belonged at the time of capture” would be repatriated. This allowed many Koreans and Chinese who were forced to join the Communist forces to settle in South Korea and Taiwan instead of being deported against their will.

A representative from the prosecutor's office of Ukraine shows part of an unidentified missile, which Ukrainian authorities believe was made in North Korea and was used in a Russian air strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Jan. 6, 2024. Reuters-Yonhap

The activists proposed that North Korean POWs who wish to go to South Korea be quickly sent here, and that North Korean soldiers on the battlefield be informed of this option through methods such as leaflets to encourage surrender.

“Kim Jung Un is concerned that the news of deaths of North Korean soldiers, who are in many cases the only sons, will create a stir among their parents as well as North Korean society,” the statement said. “Worse yet from his perspective, if hundreds of North Korean soldiers are captured alive and sent to South Korea, creating unwelcome family links between the two Koreas, he will be forced to reconsider his military deployment.”

After meeting with the North Korean captives in Ukraine during his visit from Feb. 23 to 26, Rep. Yu Yong-weon of the ruling People Power Party said earlier this month that one of the two clearly expressed a desire to defect to South Korea, while the other indicated that he needed more time to think.

Activists that endorsed the statement include Kim Kyu-li and Kim Hyuk, elder sister and cousin of Kim Cheol-ok who was deported by China to North Korea on Oct. 9, 2023; and Kim Jeong-sam, elder brother of missionary Kim Jeong-wook who has been held in detention in North Korea since 2013. Organizations such as Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, Justice for North Korea, Korean War POW Family Association, Mulmangcho, No Chain, Stepping Stones and There's Hope in North Korea, or THINK, also signed the statement.