South Korea demands Ukraine apology over North Korean POW leak — SkimNews
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- South Korea's presidential office demanded an official apology from Ukraine, with senior secretary Seong Ghi-hong saying Kyiv's disclosure "seriously undermines trust between the two governments and gravely damages friendly relations."
- President Zelenskyy disclosed the transfer at the UN, announcing Ukraine had sent two North Korean soldiers to South Korea and noting they were "not easy to capture alive."
- President Lee Jae Myung said on X he was "very disappointed" and did not understand why "the Ukrainian side broke the agreement and made the matter public."
- Zelenskyy's aide Dmytro Lytvyn defended the disclosure, telling journalists Ukraine is "an open country" and that it would have been "strange to hand over the soldiers in secret."
- Seong Ghi-hong said South Korea is "considering additional measures that may be necessary" against Ukraine, without specifying what those measures are.
- The two North Korean soldiers were captured among Pyongyang's troops fighting for Moscow early last year; a South Korean lawmaker said they want to live a "normal life" in the South, a status rooted in Seoul's constitutional claim that all Koreans are citizens.
Why it matters: South Korea is weighing unspecified 'additional measures' against Kyiv over a transfer Seoul insists was supposed to remain secret, threatening a diplomatic rupture with a partner involved in handling North Korean troops captured in Russia. The clash complicates Seoul's constitutional position that all Koreans, including Northern POWs captured abroad, are its citizens entitled to resettlement.
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