A diplomatic dispute between South Korea and Ukraine is widening after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disclosed that North Korean prisoners of war had been sent to South Korea. Seoul said the disclosure "caused grave harm to the friendly relations between the two countries," arguing that Ukraine broke an agreement between the two sides to keep the repatriation confidential, and signaled it is "reviewing additional measures as necessary."
Sung Ki-hong, senior presidential secretary for public communication, said on the 27th that "the Ukrainian government had all along requested secrecy, asking that the repatriation be kept confidential, and our side also agreed to nondisclosure and proceeded with the repatriation process, taking into account the safety of the prisoners themselves and their families as well as diplomatic and security considerations." He added that "the Ukrainian government, however, unilaterally and abruptly disclosed the North Korean prisoners' transfer to South Korea through the president's speech at this U.N. General Assembly, without sufficient advance explanation or specific consultation." He also said that "the Ukrainian presidential office announced that it had never agreed to nondisclosure, which has even triggered a controversy at home over whether our president lied."
Zelenskyy said in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly in New York on the 23rd that two North Korean prisoners of war had recently been sent to South Korea. The South Korean government neither confirmed nor denied the account, but Yoo Yong-won, a lawmaker of the People Power Party, told a news conference on the 24th that "they are understood to have arrived in South Korea three or four days ago, last weekend, after transiting a third country."
The South Korean government says it had held dozens of rounds of behind-the-scenes consultations with Ukraine and formed a shared understanding that the repatriation would be kept confidential to the greatest extent possible. President Lee Jae-myung also expressed dismay on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, on the 24th, writing that "keeping it confidential was reasonable in every respect, and that is what was agreed." He continued that "(the Ukrainian side) broke the nondisclosure agreement and made it public," adding, "I do not know what circumstances were behind it, but it is deeply regrettable."
Sung expressed strong regret, saying that "the announcement by the press office of the Ukrainian presidential office of the false claim that there was no nondisclosure agreement is an act that seriously damages trust between the two governments and causes grave harm to the friendly relations between the two countries," and demanded an official explanation and apology. He also signaled a diplomatic response, saying the government is "reviewing additional measures as necessary on this issue."
Earlier, a senior official at the presidential office said that "Ukraine had notified us that the speech might include content related to the prisoners, and we conveyed the South Korean government's position as well." In other words, Seoul had told Kyiv in advance that the repatriation should not be disclosed in the speech, but it was disclosed nonetheless.
Ukraine, for its part, denies that any "secret repatriation agreement" existed. Dmytro Lytvyn, communications adviser to the Ukrainian president, said on Facebook that "there was no agreement (on a confidential repatriation), and hiding where the prisoners are being sent is wrong."
Criticism of Zelenskyy's disclosure has also emerged within Ukraine. Oksana Torop, media adviser to Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine's ambassador to the United Kingdom, wrote on Facebook that the disclosure was "a show, or overblown publicity."
In South Korea, the prisoner repatriation issue has become a political flashpoint during the Chuseok holiday. Chung Jom-sig, floor leader of the People Power Party, wrote on Facebook on the 25th that "it is right to disclose it, the only question being when," and asked, "Were you really so afraid of upsetting Kim Jong-un?" The remarks suggested that the government deliberately withheld the prisoner issue, which Pyongyang could take sensitively, in order to repair inter-Korean relations.
In response, a senior official at the presidential office explained that "these are not simply prisoners between the two Koreas — they were taken prisoner by Ukraine in Russia, and the process of bringing them here is a complicated one involving several stages."
Meanwhile, Russian media outlets have been distorting President Lee's remarks about the repatriation of the North Korean prisoners by taking parts of them out of context. They reported his use of the words "murderer" and "traitor" as if the remarks had been directed at Zelenskyy. In fact, Lee made those remarks in a passage targeting forces criticizing the South Korean government for pursuing the repatriation of the North Korean prisoners without disclosure.
