The case of two North Korean fishermen, who murdered 16 compatriots before they sought asylum, has become a political minefield in the South.

Former senior officials involved in a forced repatriation case involving North Korean fishermen during the Moon Jae-in administration received suspended sentences from a Seoul court on Wednesday.

South Korea said it’s willing to accept any North Korean soldiers captured in Ukraine who express a desire to defect to the South, an idea that emerges amid reports of thousands of North Korean soldiers sustaining casualties in support of Russian troops.