South Korea's Second Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jina met with International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Director General Pierre Krahenbuhl in Seoul on Tuesday to seek the organisation's help in ensuring the free will of two North Korean soldiers captured in Ukraine is respected. The soldiers were taken prisoner in Russia's Kursk region in early 2025 while fighting alongside Russian forces and are currently held as prisoners of war in Ukraine, where they have reportedly expressed a desire to resettle in South Korea. Kim invoked the international legal principle of non-refoulement — which bars the forced return of individuals to a country where they may face persecution — in urging the ICRC to play an active role in facilitating the soldiers' wishes.