Putin Is Testing West's Response With North Korean Troops in Ukraine—Overview of Zelenskyy’s Interview With Korean TV

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave an interview with the South Korean TV channel KBS, where he talked about Ukraine’s request to South Korea, Trump, and North Korean troops.

According to Zelenskyy, by involving North Korean soldiers in the war, Putin, in particular, is testing the reaction of the West, NATO member countries, and South Korea. If the reaction is the same as 10 years ago, when the Russian Federation seized Crimea, then Putin will only increase the North Korean presence.

Russia and North Korea’s tandem

In Zelenskyy’s opinion, Putin wants to show the world that he has allies and it allows him to avoid announcing mobilization in Russia.

“Putin is very afraid of mobilization within his state. It hurts his rating. Because the majority of people do not support mobilization within the state. They can only shout at Ukrainians from the couch, and they don't really want to fight. So North Korea is a solution for Putin.” Zelenskyy said.

“I think that it is also very beneficial for the leader of North Korea. I will say frankly: the North Korean military has no combat experience in modern warfare. And so, the North Korean military will get practice in this war, understanding what a land war is. He will understand what the combat use of artillery is. Drones, FPV, rockets, etc. will be used, respectively. I think the North Korean leader, just like Putin, does not care about people's lives. But this practice is very important for his army.”

Treatment of POWs

When asked about Ukraine potentially capturing North Korean soldiers, Zelenskyy said that they would be treated as POWs . So Ukraine would view the North Korean troops as a possibility to exchange them for Ukrainian POWs.

“We treat prisoners of any nationality as prisoners of war. It is very important for us to preserve their lives, it is important to respect international law and not to torture prisoners. I specially emphasize, because compared to the Russian army, which tortured our boys, we do not do this. The most important thing for us is to increase the exchange fund. Therefore, first of all, we will be ready to exchange North Korean soldiers for Ukrainians,“ Zelenskyy said.

Ukraine and South Korea

Furthermore, Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine would officially appeal to South Korea with a request for military assistance. It will be about artillery, air defense and "some other important things". He stressed that it would be a valuable experience for South Korea too.

“South Korea has officially indicated that it will send specialists to us. We will be glad to see them. We will certainly share the data we have. We will certainly be glad of our cooperation. I think this is important. We are in favor of deepening relations between us and South Korea. We would greatly appreciate your help in air defense. We would like to continue working in the defense-industrial complex in the same way,“ the President stated.

North Korea’s Presence

Regarding Russia’s involvement of North Korean soldiers in the war, Zelenskyy stated that the North Korean military is present in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and in the Kursk region, which Ukraine has controlled since August, and is currently undergoing training there, with no combat clashes with them yet. 

"The Russian Federation has confirmed in contacts at the intelligence level with other partners that North Korea is involved. It has officially confirmed that at its level to major countries," Zelenskyy said. 

“This is the official involvement of the military. This is not just a transfer of artillery shells. It is not just help with the appropriate number of missiles. It is not just the involvement of technical personnel, non-military personnel to work at certain factories,” he added.

What Ukraine will not agree to

Zelenskyy also spoke about the territorial concessions to Russia that US presidential candidate Donald Trump may offer in the event of his victory. He emphasized that Ukraine will never recognize the annexation of its territories occupied by Russia, "no matter what Putin comes up with" and regardless of the future president of the United States.

"In the case of Trump: he declared that he is a man of business and he wants to end the war quickly and find some model. But if Trump, in the event of his victory, wants to simply force Ukraine to give everything and thus come to an agreement with Russia, I don't think it's possible," the Ukrainian president said.