South Korea demands apology from Ukraine over Zelensky's statement about North Korean prisoners

The presidential office of South Korea demands official explanations and an apology from Ukraine over the disclosure of information about the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to Seoul. This is reported by Reuters.

The dispute between Kyiv and Seoul now concerns not only the disclosure itself, but also whether there was an agreement on non-disclosure. The South Korean side insists that there was such an agreement, while the Office of the President of Ukraine directly denies it.

According to Yonhap, the office of the President of South Korea expressed "strong regret" over Kyiv's actions. Senior presidential secretary for public relations Song Gi-hon stated that Seoul considers the Ukrainian side's claim about the absence of a confidentiality agreement to be untrue. South Korean authorities also do not rule out additional measures in this matter.

At the same time, presidential communications adviser Dmytro Lytvyn denied the very fact of such an agreement. As reported by The Korea Herald via Asia News Network, Lytvyn responded to the publication about the alleged violated agreement: "There was no such agreement, this is not true". He also noted that it would be wrong to hide the whereabouts of specific prisoners.

Thus, the positions of the parties directly contradict each other: Seoul claims that Kyiv agreed to keep the transfer secret, while a representative of the Office of the President of Ukraine states that such an agreement never existed.

The conflict around this issue began after President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on September 23 during his speech at the UN General Assembly that Ukraine had transferred two captured North Korean soldiers to the Republic of Korea. This statement was also published on the official website of the President of Ukraine.

After that, President Lee Jae-myung of South Korea stated that the disclosure violated the agreement between the two countries. According to Seoul's version, confidentiality was necessary due to risks to the prisoners themselves and their relatives in North Korea. Earlier, "Kurs Ukrainy" wrote that the Ukrainian side responded by emphasizing that only the fact of the transfer was revealed, without details of the operation.

Two North Korean soldiers were captured by Ukraine in the Kursk region in early 2025 after Pyongyang sent its troops to support Russia in the war against Ukraine. Subsequently, Kyiv and Seoul held consultations on their further fate.

Based on materials from: Reuters, Yonhap, The Korea Herald / Asia News Network