South Korea Demands Ukraine Apology Over Disclosure of North Korean POW Transfer

South Korea has demanded an official apology and explanation from Ukraine after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly revealed that Kyiv had transferred two captured North Korean soldiers to South Korea.

The disclosure has triggered an unusual diplomatic dispute between Seoul and Kyiv, with South Korean officials accusing Ukraine of breaking an understanding that the transfer would remain confidential. Ukraine, however, has disputed Seoul’s account and said there was no formal agreement preventing it from announcing the transfer.

The dispute centers on two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces after they were sent to Russia to fight alongside Russian troops. Their eventual arrival in South Korea followed months of discussions over their future and raised sensitive questions involving international law, the security of their families and relations between Seoul, Kyiv and Pyongyang.

Zelenskyy Reveals Transfer at UN

The disagreement became public after Zelenskyy spoke at the United Nations General Assembly in New York last week.

During his address, the Ukrainian president said Kyiv had recently transferred two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea. He described the soldiers as individuals who had been captured while fighting in Russia’s Kursk region.

Zelenskyy also highlighted the dangers faced by North Korean soldiers on the battlefield, saying they had been difficult to capture alive. According to Ukrainian and South Korean accounts, the two men had expressed a desire to settle in South Korea rather than return to North Korea.

The announcement appeared to surprise South Korean officials, who said the transfer had been handled under an understanding that details would not be publicly disclosed.

South Korea’s presidential office subsequently expressed what it described as “strong regret” over Ukraine’s decision to reveal the transfer.

Seong Ghi-hong, a senior presidential secretary for public relations, said Seoul was particularly concerned not only by the disclosure itself but also by subsequent Ukrainian statements denying that a confidentiality agreement existed.

Seoul Says Confidentiality Was Necessary

South Korean officials have said confidentiality was important for security reasons.

The government was concerned about the safety of the two soldiers and their relatives who remain in North Korea. Publicly identifying the men and confirming their relocation could potentially expose their families to consequences from the North Korean government.

Seoul has also argued that the sensitive circumstances surrounding the transfer required careful diplomatic handling.

According to South Korean officials, Ukraine and South Korea had discussed the prisoners through several channels before the transfer took place. Seoul says Kyiv had requested that the matter remain private.

South Korea’s government has therefore called on Ukraine to explain why Zelenskyy’s announcement was made and why Ukrainian officials later disputed the existence of a nondisclosure understanding.

On Monday, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry summoned Ukraine’s acting ambassador in Seoul, Andrii Vieshkin, to formally protest the disclosure.

First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo reportedly stressed that the disagreement over whether a confidentiality arrangement existed had damaged trust between the two governments.

Ukraine Disputes Seoul’s Account

Kyiv has pushed back against South Korea’s allegations.

Ukrainian officials have said there was no agreement that would have prevented Zelenskyy from acknowledging the transfer. Ukrainian sources also argued that the president’s statement did not reveal sensitive operational information about how the prisoners were moved.

The disagreement over the alleged confidentiality arrangement is now at the heart of the diplomatic dispute.

While Seoul says Ukraine breached an understanding intended to protect the soldiers and their families, Kyiv has maintained that no formal nondisclosure agreement existed.

The conflicting accounts have created an awkward situation between two countries that have cooperated over the North Korean soldiers and Russia’s war in Ukraine.

South Korea has supported Ukraine diplomatically while maintaining a cautious position on direct involvement in the conflict. Kyiv, meanwhile, has sought deeper cooperation with Seoul as it attempts to strengthen international support for its war effort.

Why the North Korean Soldiers Were in Russia

The two prisoners became part of a much larger story involving North Korea’s growing military cooperation with Russia.

South Korean intelligence has estimated that North Korea sent thousands of troops to support Russia’s war effort, particularly in and around the Kursk region. South Korean, Ukrainian and Western officials have reported significant North Korean casualties during fighting there.

The deployment marked a major expansion of military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.

For years, North Korea and Russia maintained diplomatic ties, but their relationship deepened considerably after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The two governments have strengthened security cooperation, while North Korea has been accused by Ukraine and its allies of providing military assistance to Russia.

The presence of North Korean troops on a European battlefield has also created new concerns for South Korea, which remains technically at war with North Korea under an armistice dating back to 1953.

The capture of the two soldiers therefore presented Seoul with a sensitive humanitarian and security issue.

The Prisoners Wanted to Go to South Korea

South Korean officials said the two North Korean soldiers expressed a desire to live in the South.

That decision carries particular significance because North Korean citizens who successfully reach South Korea are generally able to receive protection and assistance from the South Korean government.

The prisoners’ wishes also complicated any potential discussion about their repatriation to North Korea.

Returning them could have raised serious humanitarian concerns, especially if they feared punishment after being captured while serving with Russian forces. Their request to resettle in South Korea instead led Kyiv and Seoul to work on a transfer arrangement.

The two men had reportedly been captured in January 2025 after Ukrainian forces took control of parts of the Kursk battlefield.

A Diplomatic Dispute With Wider Implications

The disagreement over the POW transfer comes as South Korean President Lee Jae Myung seeks to manage relations with both North Korea and international partners.

Lee’s government has indicated an interest in reducing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and reopening dialogue with Pyongyang. The existence of North Korean prisoners who fought for Russia adds another complicated dimension to those efforts.

For Ukraine, meanwhile, the controversy risks creating friction with a country that has technological and industrial capabilities that could be valuable to Kyiv.

For now, neither side has indicated that the dispute will end their broader cooperation.

But South Korea’s demand for an apology shows that the issue is more than a disagreement over a public announcement. Seoul considers the handling of the prisoners a matter involving security, diplomatic trust and the protection of vulnerable people.

Ukraine has yet to accept South Korea’s characterization of the events.

The fate of the two North Korean soldiers has therefore become intertwined with a larger diplomatic question: how governments should balance transparency surrounding prisoners of war with the security and privacy concerns of those involved.

As Seoul presses Kyiv for an explanation, the competing accounts over what was agreed behind closed doors are likely to remain at the center of the dispute.