President Lee Jae-myung said on the 2nd that South Korea will take "additional measures" if Ukraine continues to refuse a public apology over the repatriation of North Korean prisoners of war. He raised the level of his warning further, expressing "serious regret" over remarks from the Ukrainian side that raised the possibility of military conflict on the Korean Peninsula. The Presidential Office is also weighing whether to recall South Korea's ambassador to Ukraine.
Lee made the comments on X, formerly Twitter, while sharing an article carrying remarks by Ukraine's foreign minister. According to the article, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said he "sincerely hopes this is resolved" and that "Korea is an important country for us," as controversy mounted over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's disclosure that North Korean prisoners had been handed over to South Korea.
Lee said that on the repatriation of the North Korean prisoners, "the Ukrainian side asked that it not be made public and we agreed, but Ukraine unilaterally disclosed it." He added: "When the president of the Republic of Korea said, with the utmost courtesy, that it was regrettable, they said there had never been any such agreement, making the head of state of another country out to be a liar."
He continued: "When we asked them to acknowledge the agreement and apologize, they instead talked about an 'imminent military clash between the two Koreas,' and I express serious regret to Ukraine for seeking to bring about war on the Korean Peninsula." Saying the matter "concerns the dignity of the Korean people and the state and cannot be overlooked," he warned that he would take "additional measures" if Ukraine refuses to acknowledge the facts and issue a public apology.
The "military clash between the two Koreas" Lee referred to appears to point to a recent social media post by Kyrylo Budanov, chief of staff of the Ukrainian presidential office. Referring to North Korean troops fighting alongside Russia in the war, he argued that "North Korea is learning from our war and arming itself," and that this was "above all to prepare for active combat in its own region."
An official at the Presidential Office said Sybiha's remarks "were an equivocal response to a demand for an official apology," adding that "beyond breaking the promise of a non-disclosure agreement, their handling of the matter afterward was seriously wrong, so we have no choice but to consider stronger steps."
The Presidential Office is in fact reviewing a plan to recall Ambassador to Ukraine Park Ki-chang to South Korea as the "additional measures" Lee signaled, according to sources. The Foreign Ministry summoned Ukraine's charge d'affaires in Seoul on the 28th of last month, but with no notable action from Ukraine, the aim is to lodge a stronger protest by recalling Park.
Meanwhile, a senior government official said the two countries' foreign ministers are in communication and discussing an apology from Ukraine in connection with the dispute over the non-disclosure agreement on the repatriation of North Korean prisoners. Meeting reporters at the Government Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the same day, a senior Foreign Ministry official said, "We are discussing how to announce the content, including an apology, at the level we are demanding." The official added, however, that "the content and the level have not yet been agreed, so it is difficult for me to say."
