South Korea, Ukraine relations sour over North Korean POW transfer

South Korea’s statesmanlike bureau criticises Ukraine for denying POW nondisclosure agreement.

The South Korean president’s bureau has expressed “strong regret” implicit Ukraine’s disregard for a nondisclosure statement with Seoul successful the transportation of 2 North Korean prisoners of warfare (POWs) to Seoul, South Korean media reported.

Last week, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said successful an address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that his state transferred 2 North Korean POWs to South Korea.

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President Lee Jae Myung’s bureau “expresses beardown regret implicit Ukraine’s unilateral disclosure [of the transfer] and its consequent mendacious announcement that determination had not been a non-disclosure agreement”, the Yonhap quality bureau quoted Seong Ghi-hong, South Korea’s elder statesmanlike caput for nationalist relations, arsenic saying successful a connection connected Sunday.

The bureau said the nondisclosure statement aimed to safeguard the soldiers from dangers they could look if their transportation were to beryllium disclosed, successful accordance with planetary instrumentality and humanitarian principles.

According to Yonhap, a South Korean media outlet, the Ukrainian statesmanlike bureau said it had disclosed the transportation of the POWs without extended details connected the process, claiming that it would person been unusual to support the full transportation a secret. Ukrainian media outlets reported a Ukrainian statesmanlike root arsenic denying the beingness of a confidentiality statement with Seoul, Yonhap said.

The South Korean statesmanlike bureau said the Ukrainian statesmanlike office’s “false” denial of the confidentiality statement “seriously hampers” bilateral spot and causes superior disruptions to bilateral friendship.

Seong Ghi-hong said the authorities was considering further measures implicit the issue, if necessary, Yonhap added.

North Korean POWS

Ukrainian forces captured the 2 North Korean soldiers successful Russia’s Kursk portion successful January 2025.

Mounting evidence, including from quality ⁠reports and testimonies of defectors, has indicated that North Korean soldiers resorted to self-detonation oregon different forms of termination alternatively than beryllium captured.

In his UN address, Zelenskyy said, “These guys are not casual to seizure alive.” He added, “One of them, erstwhile helium realised helium was going to beryllium taken prisoner, tried to termination himself. And helium was shocked that destiny did not fto him die.”

South Korean media reported that the 2 captured soldiers had expressed their tendency to defect to South Korea.

The contented of North Korean prisoners of warfare was a cardinal taxable during the NATO summit successful Ankara, Turkiye, wherever Lee met Zelenskyy successful July.

Senior statesmanlike spokesperson Kang Yu-jung stated afterwards that some leaders agreed to resoluteness the presumption of North Korean POWs successful accordance with planetary law. This built connected a anterior statement reached during the South Korea-Ukraine overseas ministers’ gathering successful March, wherever some nations pledged to cooperate connected the POW issue.

According to South Korean intelligence, North Korea is estimated to person deployed astir 14,000-15,000 soldiers to enactment Russia’s efforts successful its warfare with Ukraine since 2024, chiefly successful the Kursk borderline region. South Korean, Ukrainian and Western officials said they suffered dense casualties, with much than 6,000 North Korean soldiers killed successful the fighting.

The transportation comes arsenic South Korea has backed efforts to revive dialog with North Korea, portion United States President Donald Trump has renewed his willingness to prosecute with Pyongyang.