Seoul seeks apology after Ukraine reveals transfer of North Korean POWs
SEOUL
South Korea demanded an apology from Ukraine on Sept. 27, accusing Kiev of disclosing the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to the South and then denying an agreement to keep it confidential.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed the transfer during his address to the U.N. General Assembly last week.
Seong Ghi-hong, senior presidential secretary for public relations, said the disclosure and subsequent denial had seriously damaged trust between the two governments.
Seoul was seeking an official explanation and apology and considering further measures, he said.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung had earlier criticized the announcement.
“I do not know why the Ukrainian side broke the agreement and made the matter public, but it is very disappointing,” he wrote on X.
Zelensky’s aide Dmytro Lytvyn denied that a confidentiality agreement existed. He said the president had disclosed only the fact of the transfer, describing Ukraine as an “open country” where handing over the soldiers in secret would be unusual.
Ukraine captured the two men in January 2025 while they were fighting for Russia.
A South Korean lawmaker had previously said the pair wanted to settle in the South.
Lee, who took office in June 2025, has offered Pyongyang talks without preconditions.
Park Won-gon, a professor at Ewha Womans University, said Seoul appeared concerned that publicizing the transfer could fuel North Korea’s hostility toward the South. Pyongyang had used its deployed soldiers to build a heroic narrative for domestic propaganda, he said.
South Korea has not provided lethal weapons to Ukraine but has considered requests for defensive arms, particularly since North Korea deployed troops to support Russia.
Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University, told AFP the dispute had damaged trust between Seoul and Kiev. That loss of trust would make South Korea more cautious about supplying either lethal or non-lethal weapons, he said.