South Korea’s leader warned on Oct. 2 of unspecified “further measures” if Ukraine did not apologize for revealing that Kiev had sent North Korean prisoners of war to the South.
Seoul has already summoned Ukraine’s ambassador in the diplomatic row over the disclosure that South Korea said could expose the POWs’ families to risk in the North.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced last week at the U.N. General Assembly the handover of the two North Korean troops who were captured while fighting for Russia.
South Korea maintains it had a confidentiality agreement with Ukraine over the transfer, which Kiev has not officially acknowledged.
“If Ukraine continues to refuse to acknowledge the facts and publicly apologize, we will take further measures,” said South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung, accusing Kiev of making him out to be a “liar.”
Lee did not elaborate on what further measures could include.
The South Korean leader has already spoken up against Zelensky’s comments and Seoul has demanded an official apology from Ukraine, citing concerns for the safety of the POWs’ families in North Korea.
“This is a matter concerning the dignity of the Republic of Korea and its people and cannot be overlooked,” Lee posted on X on Oct. 2.
Under Seoul’s constitution, all North Koreans are considered citizens of the Republic of Korea, as the South is officially known, and those who reach its territory and seek to defect are generally allowed to stay.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga told a briefing Thursday that he would “not like to call it an incident,” describing it instead as a “diplomatic misunderstanding.”
“I very much want this situation to be resolved in the short term, and we are working on this. For us, South Korea is an important country,” he added.
