Two North Korean prisoners of war held by Ukraine have expressed their desire to start a “new life” in South Korea, according to a letter seen by AFP on Wednesday (December 24, 2025).

“Thanks to the support of the South Korean people, new dreams and aspirations have begun to take root,” the two soldiers wrote in a letter dated late October to a Seoul-based rights group, which shared it with AFP this week.

North Korea has sent thousands of troops to support Russia’s nearly four-year invasion of Ukraine, according to South Korean and Western intelligence agencies.

Previous reports have indicated that the two men, held captive by Kyiv since January after sustaining injuries on the battlefield, were seeking to defect to the South.

But the letter represents the first time they have said so in their own words.

In the letter, the two men thanked those working on their behalf “for encouraging us and seeing this situation not as a tragedy but as the beginning of a new life”.

“We firmly believe that we are never alone, and we think of those in South Korea as our own parents and siblings and have decided to go into their embrace,” they wrote.

The letter is signed by the two soldiers, whose names AFP has been asked to withhold to protect their safety.