A North Korean prisoner of war (POW) in Ukraine has explicitly expressed his desire to defect to South Korea, according to an ROK lawmaker, who called for Seoul to use “all” available resources to prevent the soldier’s forced repatriation after meeting him last month.

Yu Yong-weon of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) disclosed audio recordings and photographs from his meetings with two North Korean POWs during a press conference at Seoul’s National Assembly on Tuesday.

“I really want to go to South Korea. I really want to go there to meet my parents in the future,” said the prisoner