In brief
South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung warned Ukraine that it would face unspecified "further action" if the Kyiv government did not publicly apologise for revealing that two North Korean prisoners of war had been transferred to the South. The warning follows Zelensky’s disclosure at the UN General Assembly last week, a move Seoul claimed was intended to remain secret. Ukraine’s foreign minister described the situation as a diplomatic misunderstanding and said Kyiv was working to resolve it, while the South Korean regime condemned the announcement as a threat to the dignity of its people. The situation has sparked criticism of Lee at home and intensified tensions between the two allies amid ongoing conflict.
South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung has threatened unspecified "further action" if Ukraine does not issue a public apology for revealing that two North Korean prisoners of war were sent to the South.
Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky made the disclosure to the UN General Assembly last week, an act that Seoul denounced as a violation of an agreement to keep the matter confidential. The South Korean regime stated that Ukraine had requested secrecy to protect North Korean families and to avoid criticism that Kyiv had forfeited an opportunity to exchange the soldiers for Ukrainian prisoners of war.
In response, Zelensky’s office said the two countries had no such agreement to keep the move confidential, further inflaming the dispute. Lee’s office accused Ukraine of attempting to "bring war on the Korean Peninsula" and warned that the situation threatened the dignity of the Korean people.
Inside South Korea, opposition parties condemned Lee’s handling of the release, claiming he covered up the transfer to appease Pyongyang. The two soldiers, once involved in the Ukrainian war on Russia’s side, had previously voiced a desire to be transferred to South Korea.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha described the dispute as a "diplomatic misunderstanding" and pledged to resolve it quickly, emphasising South Korea’s importance to Kyiv. He said the situation would soon be settled, hoping for a concrete outcome that would strengthen cooperation.
Seoul has backed Ukraine since the onset of Russia’s full‑scale invasion but has kept its policy of not supplying lethal weapons to any warring party.
