By bno - Taipei Bureau Human rights organisations advocating for North Korean citizens have called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to refrain from repatriating two North Korean soldiers captured while fighting for Russia.

A South Korean lawmaker said Seoul's intelligence showed some 3,000 North Korean troops have been wounded or killed in Kursk.

South Korea’s military says it suspects North Korea is preparing to send additional troops to Russia after its soldiers already deployed on the Russian-Ukraine war fronts suffered heavy casualties.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video showing the apparent interrogation of two North Korean soldiers captured alive in the war.

North Korea has not responded to reports of its troops captured or killed by Ukraine forces. It has never publicised the deployment or large shipments of North Korean artillery shells and other weapons sent to Russia to help its war against Ukraine, although they marked the country’s first intervention in a major armed conflict overseas in decades.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he’s willing to hand over the soldiers to North Korea, if Kim Jong Un arranges for an exchange with Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia.

Ukraine President Zelenskyy has alleged that North Korea is supporting Ukraine in the ongoing war; Ukraine has also captured two North Korean soldiers.

Ukraine captured two wounded North Korean soldiers who were fighting on behalf of Russia in a Russian border region, South Korea’s intelligence service said.

Ukrainian soldiers captured North Korean soldiers in Russia's Kursk Oblast. Source: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Quote: "These are two soldiers who, although they sustained injuries, survived, were taken to Kyiv and are talking to investigators of the Security Service of Ukraine.

Separately, Ukraine revealed more details about the first two North Korean soldiers it has captured alive and said it was willing to exchange them for Ukrainians held in Russia.

KYIV: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday (Jan 12) that Kyiv is ready to hand over North Korean soldiers to their leader Kim Jong Un if he can organise their exchange for Ukrain

Videos of captured North Korean troops posted online by Ukrainian President Zelensky show them admitting that they thought they were being sent on an exercise.