South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has warned that Seoul will take “further measures” if Ukraine refuses to publicly apologise for disclosing the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea, escalating a diplomatic dispute between the two countries.
Lee said on Friday that Ukraine had made a “unilateral disclosure” of the transfer, which Seoul had sought to keep confidential because of concerns that the prisoners’ families in North Korea could be targeted by Pyongyang. South Korea has demanded an official apology, saying consultations between the two sides had produced a “clear understanding” that the transfer would remain confidential.
“If Ukraine continues to refuse to acknowledge the facts and publicly apologize, we will take further measures,” Lee said, accusing Kyiv of making him out to be a “liar”. In a post on X, he said the issue concerned “the dignity of the Republic of Korea and its people and cannot be overlooked”.
The two North Korean soldiers were captured by Ukrainian forces early last year after being deployed alongside thousands of North Korean troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine. Their deployment was part of an arrangement under which North Korea provided support to Russia in exchange for economic and military assistance to Pyongyang.
The dispute intensified after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disclosed the transfer during remarks at the United Nations last week. Seoul subsequently expressed its dismay and stressed that confidentiality was essential to protecting the prisoners’ relatives in North Korea.
Ukraine has characterised the episode differently. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in an interview published by RBC-Ukraine and other Ukrainian outlets on Thursday that he did not want to describe the disclosure as an “incident”, calling it instead a “diplomatic misunderstanding”.
“South Korea is an important country for us. And I very much hope for momentum, continued cooperation, and concrete results that we are indeed achieving with them,” Sybiha said.
Analysts said Seoul’s insistence on confidentiality may also have benefited Ukraine because publicly disclosing the transfer could have complicated Kyiv’s own prisoner-exchange efforts with Russia. The two soldiers had been photographed by South Korean media before their arrival in South Korea and were therefore identifiable.
The dispute also carries domestic political implications for Lee’s administration. Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University, said Seoul’s response “could prove problematic” given the government’s dovish approach towards North Korea. He contrasted the government’s swift response to Ukraine with what he described as its “extreme caution” over a North Korean landmine incident that injured South Korean soldiers.
“That contrast could leave the public deeply dissatisfied,” Shin said.
North Korea is known to retaliate against defectors and their families, adding to Seoul’s stated concerns over the disclosure. South Korea’s spy agency has also offered a different interpretation of Zelenskyy’s decision to reveal the transfer. A lawmaker said on Wednesday that the agency believed the Ukrainian president might have disclosed the soldiers’ transfer in an effort to increase public support in South Korea for providing arms to Ukraine.
South Korea has become a major arms exporter in recent years, particularly since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, including through a multibillion-dollar arms agreement with Poland. Seoul has nevertheless refrained from supplying Kyiv with lethal weapons, citing its longstanding policy of not arming countries involved in active conflicts.
