South Korean military police on Monday detained a South Korean Marine upon his arrival back into the country that day from eastern Europe, where he allegedly attempted to travel to Ukraine to fight for the nation in its latest war with Russia, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Officials for the South Korean Armed Forces on April 25 “took custody of a Marine draftee who flew to Poland without approval about a month ago apparently to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia,” according to the Seoul-based Yonhap.
The man left South Korea for Poland on March 21, and subsequently tried to enter Ukraine via its land border with Poland but was unsuccessful. Representatives of the South Korean Armed Forces and diplomats from the country had attempted to persuade the man to return home over the past few weeks. They were unable to force the Marine draftee onto a flight to South Korea as he was outside the country’s jurisdiction for such action.
The Republic of Korea (ROK) Marine Corps issued a statement on Monday confirming its security officials “captured” the man at an undisclosed airport in South Korea earlier that same day.
“We will take steps in a stern manner in accordance with law and regulations, after investigating why he had left his area of duty,” the ROK Marine Corps said in a press release.
South Korean law stipulates that active members of the nation’s armed forces must get approval from their military superiors before traveling abroad during a vacation or designated break from service. South Korean military personnel who fail to ask for such travel permission are subject to punishments for the crime of “desertion,” including a maximum prison sentence of ten years.
“South Korea maintains an active duty military of 550,000, with 2.7 million troops in reserves, amid decades of tensions with North Korea. All men must serve for up to 21 months, depending on the military branch,” Reuters observed in September 2021.
South Korea and North Korea are technically at war, along with their allies America and China, respectively, as neither side of the Korean War ever signed a peace agreement. The war began in 1950, and active hostilities ended after the signing of an armistice agreement in 1953.
South Korean media outlets previously described the Marine detained on April 25 as a potential deserter when first reporting on his case in late March. The Korea JoongAng Daily on March 24 revealed the man was “20 years old” and considered missing in action (MIA) “somewhere in Poland” at the time.
“The soldier was last confirmed to have left a Polish border guard’s office on early morning Wednesday [March 23],” South Korea’s foreign ministry said in a statement later that same day.
Yonhap reported on March 23 that the young Marine draftee had allegedly refused to leave a border checkpoint in Poland earlier that week.
“South Korean Embassy personnel are waiting to contact the Marine outside a checkpoint in a Polish border region to which the man was taken after he was denied access to Ukraine on Tuesday [March 22],” the news agency relayed.
“He is reportedly refusing to come out of the checkpoint for an unspecified reason. Embassy officials are not allowed to enter the checkpoint as it is a facility under foreign jurisdiction,” Yonhap divulged.
South Korea’s federal government in mid-February banned its citizens from traveling to Ukraine citing safety concerns amid then-rising tension between Kyiv and Moscow. War broke out between Ukraine and Russia on February 24 and has continued since then.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the formation of an “international” legion to support Kyiv in its battles against Moscow on February 27. The leader said he hoped that by advertising the legion’s establishment he might help to recruit foreign military support for Ukraine.
“Everyone who wants to join the defense of security in Europe and the world may come and stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukrainians against the invaders of the 21st Century,” Zelensky’s official website quoted him as saying.
“The government [of Ukriane] has temporarily axed its visa requirements and offered equipment and a salary to those with a valid passport and military training,” the BBC reported on March 16 of Kyiv’s efforts to facilitate foreign military recruitment.
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