Overview

• Six surviving former North Korean soldiers and spies have filed formal repatriation requests with South Korea’s Unification Ministry.
• Ahn Hak-sop, 95, attempted to approach the Demilitarized Zone for a crossing on Wednesday but was turned back by authorities and taken away in an ambulance, according to CNN.
• The ministry says it is reviewing the petitions from a humanitarian perspective, though it has made no decision and notes that coordination with the North is necessary.
• Advocates invoke the Geneva Conventions, arguing the men should be treated as prisoners of war and repatriated on humanitarian grounds.
• South Korea last repatriated such prisoners in 2000 via Panmunjom, while today’s requests unfold under a conciliatory posture from President Lee Jae-myung and public skepticism from Pyongyang.