South Korea threatens further action over Ukraine POW disclosure row
President Lee Jae Myung has threatened unspecified further action if Ukraine does not issue a public apology over the disclosure that two North Korean prisoners of war had been sent to South Korea. The dispute centres on remarks made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the UN General Assembly last week, which Seoul says should have remained confidential. South Korean officials say the revelation has created a diplomatic row over the handling of the prisoners and the safety of their families.
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Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, has described the matter as a diplomatic misunderstanding and said Kyiv is working to resolve it. He said he hoped the issue would be settled very soon and stressed that South Korea remains an important country for Ukraine. Lee rejected that framing, saying the issue concerns the dignity of the Korean people and the nation, and accused Kyiv of attempting to provoke a war on the Korean Peninsula.
The row has also drawn domestic political pressure in Seoul. Lee's office said Ukraine had asked for the transfer to remain secret, partly to protect the North Koreans' families and partly to avoid criticism that Kyiv had missed a chance to exchange the soldiers for Ukrainian prisoners of war. Zelensky's office has said there was no such confidentiality agreement, deepening the disagreement between the two governments.
The episode matters because it touches on prisoner-of-war handling, wartime secrecy and the wider sensitivities around North Korean involvement in Russia's war against Ukraine. The two soldiers were among thousands of North Koreans said to be supporting Russia in the conflict, and they had earlier told local media they wanted to be sent to South Korea. Seoul has been sympathetic to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion, but it has maintained a longstanding policy of not supplying lethal weapons to countries at war.
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The dispute also highlights the political risks of public disclosure when detainees may face consequences for themselves or their relatives. South Korea's opposition has accused Lee of covering up the transfer to appease Pyongyang, adding to the pressure on his government. For Kyiv, the issue risks complicating ties with a country it sees as important, even as it seeks to preserve broader support against Russia.
What remains unclear is what form South Korea's threatened further action could take, and whether Ukraine will issue the apology Seoul wants. It is also not clear how the two North Korean prisoners are being handled now, or whether any arrangement has been made for their future. The next step will depend on whether the two governments can contain the dispute without damaging wider cooperation.
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