South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Ukraine’s Chargé d’Affaires Andrii Vieshkin over Kyiv’s public disclosure of information regarding the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to Seoul.
Park Yoon-joo, First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Korea, expressed “deep regret” to the Ukrainian diplomat over the disclosure of details of the arrangements between Kyiv and Seoul, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said.
According to Seoul, the governments of the two countries had agreed to maintain confidentiality regarding the repatriation of North Korean prisoners of war. However, Ukraine, the South Korean side claims, announced their transfer to South Korea during a recent session of the UN General Assembly without prior consultations.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry also noted that the Office of the President of Ukraine later denied the existence of an agreement on confidentiality.
“The Ukrainian side’s dissemination of false information about the absence of an agreement on confidentiality seriously undermines trust between the two governments and hinders the development of friendly relations”
Park Yoon-joo, First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Korea
Ukraine acknowledges that the diplomatic dispute with South Korea could harm Seoul’s cooperation with Kyiv. A LIGA.net source in diplomatic circles said that Ukraine had decided on an approach to resolving the conflict, but did not disclose details of that approach.
On September 23, at the UN General Assembly, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine had transferred two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea. Seoul believes that Kyiv violated a confidentiality agreement, while Ukraine denies that such an agreement existed.
On September 27, South Korea said it wanted to receive an official explanation and an apology from Ukraine.
