Published on 09/28/2026 – 5:49 GMT+2•Updated 6:52 The office of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung demanded an apology from Ukraine for denying an agreement to keep confidential the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war from its territory to Seoul. The dispute broke out when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed last week that his country had sent two North Korean soldiers to the South, adding that “it was not easy to capture them alive.” The escalation of the dispute risks complicating kyiv’s efforts to obtain weapons from its allies, including South Korea, to fight Russia’s bombing. Hours after Zelenskyy’s revelation, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung criticized the action. “I don’t know why the Ukrainian side broke the agreement and made the matter public, but it is very disappointing,” he wrote in Ukraine is an “open country,” Lytvyn noted, saying it would be “unusual” to hand over soldiers secretly. But Seoul condemned it as a breach of trust. Seong Ghi-hong, presidential public relations secretary, said in a statement late Sunday that South Korea was “considering additional measures that may be necessary regarding this matter.” “It is in itself a very serious matter that the Ukrainian side violated the confidentiality agreement between the two countries and made the disclosure unilaterally,” he said. “But the false statement by the Ukrainian presidential press office that there was no confidentiality agreement seriously undermines trust between the two governments and seriously damages friendly relations between the two countries,” he added. South Korea’s presidential office demands “an official explanation and apology,” Seong said. Ukraine captured two North Korean soldiers among Pyongyang troops fighting for Moscow early last year. One of them said he served in a reconnaissance unit and that while some North Korean soldiers had been trained to use Russian military equipment, he had not. The soldier said he was drafted into the military when he was 17 and had been serving since then. A South Korean lawmaker had previously said the couple wanted to live a “normal life” in the south of the Peninsula. Analysts believe Lee Jae Myung’s angry reaction to the confidentiality agreement risks sparking intense disputes with the nuclear-armed North, which could translate into greater hostility toward Seoul. “North Korea has been using deployed soldiers to create a heroic narrative for regime propaganda, and the South Korean government appears concerned that confirming the prisoners’ return to the South and publicizing it could further fuel hostility toward Seoul,” said Park Won-gon, a professor at Ewha Womans University. Beyond the ramifications within South Korea, the dispute also risks complicating kyiv’s arms supply requests to the ally. So far, South Korea has not provided lethal weapons to Ukraine, citing an internal ban on militarily assisting countries at war. However, it had been considering requests for defensive weapons, especially since North Korea deployed troops to support Russia. Additional sources • AFP
