Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced at the United Nations General Assembly that Ukraine has transferred two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea, who were captured in Russia's Kursk region in early 2025. Zelenskyy condemned Pyongyang’s military involvement in supporting Russia, while human rights groups and South Korean media highlighted that the soldiers faced severe punishment if returned to North Korea and had expressed a desire to defect, leading South Korea and Ukraine to handle the transfer in accordance with international law and humanitarian principles.