South Korea demands apology from Ukraine over North Korean POW transfer dispute

South Korea has demanded an official apology and explanation from Ukraine following a bitter diplomatic dispute over the unannounced public disclosure of two North Korean prisoners of war transferred to Seoul, according to Euronews. The row, which erupted after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed the transfer during a speech at the United Nations General Assembly, has severely strained bilateral ties and threatens to complicate Kyiv’s ongoing efforts to secure military equipment from the East Asian nation, as detailed by Yahoo News.

The two North Korean soldiers were captured by Ukrainian forces in Russia's western Kursk region in January 2025. They were among thousands of troops dispatched by Pyongyang under a mutual defense treaty to reinforce Russian lines. According to reporting from The Guardian, the captured pair expressed a clear desire to go to South Korea, which constitutionally regards North Korean citizens as its own. In July, Zelenskyy and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung agreed to handle the transfer in accordance with the captives' free will.

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Seoul maintains that Kyiv specifically requested strict secrecy out of concern that the Ukrainian public would criticize the government for passing up an opportunity to trade the soldiers for a large number of Ukrainian captives held in Russia. South Korea agreed to keep the operation confidential, citing the physical safety of the two men and their vulnerable families back in North Korea, alongside broader regional security considerations.

The arrangement unraveled when Zelenskyy announced the transfer from the podium at the United Nations General Assembly. President Lee immediately took to social media to express profound disappointment, stating that Ukraine had breached a non-disclosure agreement. In response, Dmytro Lytvyn, an adviser to Zelenskyy, rejected the existence of any confidentiality pact on social media, asserting that it would be bizarre to quietly smuggle the prisoners away without public acknowledgment.

The escalation prompted Seong Ghi-hong, senior presidential secretary for public relations, to issue a scathing rebuke, stating that the Ukrainian press office's denial seriously undermined trust between the two governments. On Monday, South Korea's foreign ministry summoned Ukraine's chargé d'affaires, Andrii Vieshkin, to the ministry in Seoul to formally demand an apology and preventive measures against future breaches, as reported by The Korea Times. Vieshkin acknowledged the summons and promised to report Seoul's position directly to Kyiv.

The controversy has opened up significant domestic political friction within South Korea. Conservative opposition politicians from the People Power Party criticized Lee's administration for attempting to conceal the arrangement, questioning whether the government was overly deferential to Pyongyang. Conversely, ruling party defenders and academic experts, such as Park Won-gon of Ewha Womans University, noted that keeping the repatriation quiet was vital to prevent North Korea from weaponizing the incident to heighten cross-border hostility, according to Aljazeera.

Beyond bilateral trust, the public dispute carries heavy material implications for the war in Europe. Ukraine has continuously pressed Seoul for advanced weaponry, particularly Patriot air defense systems and artillery shells, to counter relentless Russian bombardments. While South Korea has maintained a strict domestic ban on supplying lethal arms directly to active conflict zones, it had faced mounting pressure to consider defensive provisions in light of North Korea's direct military intervention. Analysts warn that the current diplomatic rupture makes any form of clandestine or formal military assistance highly unlikely moving forward.

As the diplomatic standoff continues, the two North Korean soldiers are expected to undergo rigorous security screening and debriefings by South Korea's National Intelligence Service before entering the state resettlement system.