The journalist during the conversation noted that after the end of the Korean war, a real peace treaty was not concluded, but South Korea managed to flourish. Zelensky was asked what he thinks about this example.
“This is an example of the fact that the values have won. The development of South Korea is a leap compared to North Korea – where there is real economic and civilizational degradation. I am not even talking about people, I am about infrastructure, their economy and development,” the Ukrainian president answered. “If you ask me if Ukraine can exist. Everything is possible. South Korea has a great ally, which supports the US They will not give the opportunity to North Korea regarding the capture. “
However, according to Zelensky, the inhabitants of South Korea are still faced with risks, since “they are still not fully protected.”
“They are protected economically, protected by the Union, but so far North Korea remains what it is, while the nature of its leadership is just like that – South Korea is not fully protected,” the president emphasized.
According to Zelensky, Ukraine is “tuned to speak with partners” so that it has its own guarantees of security, including Patriot systems.
At the same time, as the president indicated, threats from Russia (a population of more than 140 million people) for Ukraine “at five, six, or even 10 times more” than for South Korea from the DPRK, where more than 20 million inhabitants have.
“Therefore, the Korean pure model is unlikely to be suitable for Ukraine due to the fact that there is much more, stronger threat. But development, those economic steps on the militarization of the economy that South Korea has-I think this is a very good example,” Zelensky summed up.
Context
The Korean war was fed between North and South Korea from 1950 to 1953. The conflict between the two countries ceased with a truce in July 1953, as a result of which a demilitarized zone was created. Since there is no official peace treaty between countries, formally they are still at war.
In July 2022, the ex-primary chief of NATO in Europe James Stavridis said that Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine could go into the stage of frozen conflict following the example of the Korean War.
The media wrote in May 2023 that the aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine could be Frozen for decades According to the Korean scenario. In Ukraine, such ideas were called “fiction” and “direction of the lobbying efforts of Russian diplomacy.”
On August 8, 2025, The Wall Street Journal, citing sources, reported that the illegitimate Russian President Vladimir Putin allegedly was ready to cease fire in exchange for the Donbass. According to Bloomberg, he may stop claiming those Parts of the Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions that the Russian Federation are not controlled now, actually frozen the front line there.
Zelensky repeatedly stated that legally Ukraine does not recognize Not a single occupied territory of the Russian, and the demands of Russians regarding Donbass called Putin's “stuffing”.
