South Korea will offer "necessary protection and support" to North Korean prisoners of war captured in Ukraine who wish to come to the South, Seoul said Wednesday.

The case of two North Korean fishermen, who murdered 16 compatriots before they sought asylum, has become a political minefield in the South.

South Korea said it’s willing to accept any North Korean soldiers captured in Ukraine who express a desire to defect to the South, an idea that emerges amid reports of thousands of North Korean soldiers sustaining casualties in support of Russian troops.

South Korea has stated that it is ready to accept any North Korean soldiers captured by the Ukrainian Armed Forces who wish to defect to the South, reports Bloomberg. “North Korean soldiers are our citizens under the Constitution and respecting individuals’ free will is in line with the international law and customs,