South Korea’s presidential office is demanding an official explanation and an apology from Ukraine, accusing Kyiv of disclosing information about the transfer to Seoul of two North Korean prisoners of war.
Reuters reports.
Seoul also accuses Kyiv of spreading false claims that the sides had not agreed to keep the matter confidential.
“The presidential office expresses deep regret over Ukraine’s unilateral disclosure of information and its subsequent false statement that there was no agreement on non-disclosure,” said Song Gi-hon, the president’s senior secretary for public relations, in a statement.
He said the Korean government is considering taking additional measures on the matter if necessary.
Song said Ukraine had repeatedly discussed the transfer of the prisoners with Seoul through various channels and asked that it be kept confidential, arguing that disclosure could trigger domestic criticism because it would remove the possibility of exchanging those soldiers for Ukrainian captives.
According to him, South Korea agreed to keep the transfer confidential for security reasons, as well as diplomatic and humanitarian considerations, including the safety of the prisoners themselves and their families.
According to the statement, Ukraine later revealed the transfer during President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address to the UN General Assembly without proper prior consultations, and then denied that any confidentiality agreement existed.
Song said the denial had seriously undermined trust between the two governments and could harm bilateral relations.
- Earlier, Ukraine’s Presidential Office told Yonhap that Kyiv had only reported the fact of the transfer of two North Koreans, without disclosing details of how it was carried out. It said it would have been odd to conceal the fact of the transfer entirely.
- Later, an official in South Korea’s presidential administration, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Seoul had known in advance of Zelenskyy’s intention to talk about the transfer of the prisoners. According to the official, Ukraine had warned the South Korean side, but did not specify in what form the information would be made public.