South Korea Demands Kyiv Apologise Over Disclosed Transfer of Captured North Korean Troops

Reuters

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Friday warned that Seoul would take unspecified "additional measures" against Ukraine unless Kyiv acknowledges a confidentiality agreement covering the transfer of two captured North Korean soldiers and issues an apology.   

"If the refusal to acknowledge the facts and issue a public apology continues, we will take additional measures," Lee said in a post on X.

The South Korean President has expressed "grave regret" over comments from Ukrainian officials regarding an imminent military clash between North and South Korea, warning that such remarks effectively encourage conflict on the Korean Peninsula.

Seoul and Kyiv have been entangled in a sharp diplomatic dispute since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disclosed at the United Nations General Assembly last month that Ukraine had transferred to South Korea two North Korean prisoners of war captured while fighting alongside Russian forces.

Seoul subsequently accused Kyiv of breaching an explicit non-disclosure agreement intended to protect the soldiers, whereas Ukrainian officials denied that any such confidentiality agreement existed.

In response, Kyiv is now seeking to repair relations. Ukrainian media reported Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha as attempting to downplay the fallout during a press briefing on Thursday. "I would not like to call this an incident. Let us say it is a diplomatic misunderstanding," Sybiha stated, as reported by news portal nv.ua.

A senior official at the South Korean Foreign Ministry confirmed on Friday that foreign ministers from both nations have been in direct contact to negotiate how Kyiv might address Seoul's concerns, including a potential apology. South Korean media reported that Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and his counterpart Sybiha are working to negotiate a resolution that satisfies Seoul's requirements while accommodating Ukraine's wartime constraints and ensuring neither government suffers a public loss of face.

The diplomatic friction arrives at a delicate moment for President Lee's administration, which is striving to de-escalate tensions with Pyongyang while simultaneously navigating the domestic political fallout from a recent landmine explosion in the Demilitarised Zone.

South Korea has consistently supported Kyiv with financial and humanitarian assistance following Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, recently committing a further $100 million in non-lethal aid on the margins of the NATO summit in July.

Source: Reuters



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