South Korea Threatens Action Over North Korean POW Row — SkimNews
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- President Lee Jae Myung rejected Ukraine's characterization of the dispute as a 'diplomatic misunderstanding,' saying on X it concerned 'the dignity of the Korean people and the nation' and threatened 'further action' without an apology.
- Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Thursday that Kyiv is 'working' to resolve the situation, calling South Korea 'an important country' and expressing hope for 'concrete results in the very near future.'
- Lee's office claimed it was Ukraine that requested the transfer be kept secret — partly to protect the North Koreans' families and to preempt criticism that Kyiv had forfeited a chance to exchange the soldiers for Ukrainian POWs — while Zelensky's office denied any such confidentiality agreement existed.
- Lee accused Kyiv of attempting to 'bring war on the Korean Peninsula,' expressing 'serious regret' that Ukraine referenced an 'imminent military clash between the North and South' rather than acknowledging the alleged agreement.
- South Korea's domestic opposition accused Lee of covering up the transfer to appease Pyongyang after Zelensky's UN disclosure revealed the move, intensifying political pressure on the president at home.
- The two North Korean soldiers, captured from among thousands deployed to support Russia's war effort, had told local media they wanted to be sent to South Korea, per prior reporting cited in the article.
- Seoul has remained sympathetic to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion but adheres to a longstanding policy of not providing lethal weapons to any country engaged in active war.
Why it matters: The spat creates a rare friction point between two democracies aligned against Russian aggression: South Korea faces domestic backlash for shielding a transfer meant to stay secret, while Ukraine risks losing a sympathetic partner at a moment when thousands of North Korean troops are fighting alongside Moscow. The breakdown underscores how even shared adversaries cannot paper over conflicting interests in wartime diplomacy.
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