South Korea threatened Ukraine with "additional measures" due to dispute over DPRK prisoners

President of South Korea Lee Jae-myung stated that Seoul may resort to "additional measures" if Ukraine continues to deny the existence of a non-disclosure agreement on the transfer of two captured DPRK soldiers and does not offer official apologies.

According to Yonhap, the South Korean president issued the warning on October 2 amid a diplomatic dispute between Seoul and Kyiv. He did not specify what measures South Korea might take.

According to Seoul, Ukraine had previously requested that the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war be kept secret, but President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly announced it during his speech at the UN General Assembly. The South Korean side also insists that there was a confidentiality agreement between the countries. The Ukrainian side denied the existence of such an agreement.

Lee Jae-myung said that the situation affects trust between the states and the "dignity" of South Korea. He also expressed displeasure that during the dispute, the Ukrainian side raised the issue of possible military escalation on the Korean Peninsula.

Meanwhile, Kyiv is trying to quickly resolve the diplomatic dispute. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha stated the day before in a comment to journalists that he does not consider the situation an "incident", calling it a diplomatic misunderstanding.

According to Sybiha, over the past few days he has been personally communicating daily with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Korea. Kyiv expects to resolve the differences soon and continue cooperation with Seoul, which the Foreign Minister called an important partner of Ukraine.

The diplomatic dispute began after Zelensky's speech at the General Assembly on September 23 and the later denials by the Ukrainian side of agreements with Seoul on confidentiality in the transfer of DPRK prisoners. On September 28, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea summoned Ukrainian diplomat Andriy Veshkin. Seoul then demanded official explanations and apologies, stating that the denial of the confidentiality agreement undermines mutual trust.

It concerns two DPRK soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region in January 2025. They later expressed a desire to move to South Korea, and Kyiv and Seoul held consultations on their further fate.

Based on materials: Yonhap News Agency, RBC-Ukraine (Kateryna Koval, Milan Lelic)