South Korea warns of further action if Ukraine does not apologise over POW disclosure
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "South Korea warns of further action if Ukraine does not apologise over POW disclosure")
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung delivers a speech during the 78th Armed Forces Day at a military base in Gyeryong on October 1, 2026. Photograph: (AFP)
South Korea has warned Ukraine of “further measures” unless Kyiv apologises for publicly disclosing the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to Seoul.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has warned Ukraine of “further measures” if Kyiv does not apologise for revealing that two North Korean prisoners of war had been transferred to South Korea.
Lee did not specify what measures Seoul could take. The warning came after South Korea summoned Ukraine’s ambassador over the disclosure, saying it could put the families of the North Korean POWs at risk in North Korea.
“If Ukraine continues to refuse to acknowledge the facts and publicly apologise, we will take further measures,” Lee said, accusing Kyiv of making him out to be a “liar.”
Lee also wrote on X that the disclosure was a matter of national dignity.
“This is a matter concerning the dignity of the Republic of Korea and its people and cannot be overlooked,” he said.
What happened between South Korea and Ukraine
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced at the United Nations General Assembly last week that Ukraine had handed over two North Korean soldiers captured while fighting for Russia to South Korea.
Seoul said it had a confidentiality agreement with Ukraine over the transfer and accused Kyiv of violating that understanding by making the information public. Ukraine has not officially acknowledged that such an agreement existed.
Seoul was deeply concerned that publicity surrounding the transfer would put the North Korean soldiers' family members back in North Korea at severe risk of retaliation by Kim Jong Un's regime.
South Korea's administration worried that publicising the defecting soldiers would provoke Pyongyang, escalate inter-Korean tensions and hurt broader diplomatic efforts.
Ukraine calls it a diplomatic misunderstanding
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said he would “not like to call it an incident” and instead described the matter as a “diplomatic misunderstanding”.
“I very much want this situation to be resolved in the short term, and we are working on this. For us, South Korea is an important country,” Sybiga said.
South Korea’s spy agency has suggested that Zelensky may have disclosed the transfer to build public support in South Korea for Seoul providing weapons to Ukraine, according to a lawmaker.
South Korea has emerged as a major arms exporter since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. It has also signed multibillion-dollar arms deals with countries including Poland.
