[사진 = 매경닷컴]A pro-Russian separatist rebel group in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine announced on the 11th (local time) that a South Korean volunteer soldier would be put on trial.
According to reports, foreign minister Natalia Nikonorova of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) said on the same day that “a trial against a Korean citizen who fought on the side of Ukraine is being prepared.”
“As far as I know, a verdict is being prepared for a mercenary from South Korea. He fought on the side of the Ukrainian government forces,” he added.
On April 22, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that there were four unauthorized persons entering Ukraine. Former Captain Lee Geun, a former special forces soldier, served as a foreign mercenary in Ukraine and returned to Korea on the 27th of last month to recover from an injury.
DPR’s own court defined the status of two British and one Moroccan captured by the Russian army as ‘mercenaries’ and sentenced them to death on the 9th. They were charged with mercenary acts, usurpation and subversion of the government.
It is known that the two British citizens were members of the Ukrainian regular army, not foreign volunteers.
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