South Korea Rebukes Ukraine Over North Korean POW Leak — SkimNews
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- South Korea's presidential office expressed "strong regret" on Sunday over Ukraine's disclosure of the transfer of two captured North Korean soldiers to Seoul.
- President Lee Jae Myung said it was "deeply regretful" that Ukraine made the transfer public, asserting both sides had agreed not to disclose it.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that Ukraine had transferred the two captured North Korean soldiers to South Korea after they were captured fighting for Russia.
- Seong Ghi-hong, senior presidential secretary for public relations, accused Ukraine of a "unilateral disclosure" and a "false announcement that there had not been a non-disclosure agreement," per Yonhap.
- South Korea's government is considering additional measures over the issue if necessary, Yonhap reported.
- Ukraine captured the two North Koreans in Russia's Kursk region in January 2025 — the first North Korean soldiers captured alive since Pyongyang entered the Russia-Ukraine war in 2024.
- The disclosure timing comes as South Korea backs efforts to revive dialogue with North Korea and Trump has renewed his willingness to engage with Pyongyang.
Why it matters: South Korea publicly dressing down war-battered Ukraine over a disclosure spat signals Seoul wants North Korea's combat role in Russia's invasion kept quiet as it pursues dialogue with Pyongyang, a path Trump has also revived. The friction puts Seoul's inter-Korean reconciliation agenda in direct tension with its solidarity with Kyiv.
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