Seoul, Kyiv clash over confidentiality as N. Korean POW repatriation goes public
President Lee Jae Myung shakes hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of their summit at a hotel in Ankara, Turkey, July 8. Yonhap
South Korea and Ukraine are offering conflicting accounts of whether they had agreed to keep the repatriation of two North Korean prisoners of war (POWs) to South Korea confidential, putting the two countries publicly at odds over the handling of the sensitive issue.
Cheong Wa Dae on Saturday stood by its handling of the repatriation but refrained from directly engaging with Ukraine's denial of a confidentiality agreement.
"I don't think it would be appropriate to respond in detail to each comment attributed to sources," a Cheong Wa Dae official, who was accompanying President Lee Jae Myung on his state visit to Mexico, told reporters.
"The government's position is to handle the matter in accordance with the principles it has consistently followed, including the wishes of the individuals concerned, procedures under domestic law, international legal considerations and humanitarian principles."
The comments came after RBC-Ukraine reported Friday that Ukraine had not promised to keep the repatriation confidential, citing a source in Ukraine's presidential office. The source told the outlet that "Ukrainians have the right to know" about the issue involving the prisoners.
Dmitro Litvin, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, also weighed in publicly, writing, "There was no agreement to remain silent," in response to a Facebook post by Oksana Torop, a media adviser to Ukraine's ambassador to the United Kingdom.
North Korea has yet to officially comment on the matter.
The disagreement surfaced after Zelenskyy made a surprise announcement during his address to the U.N. General Assembly that two North Korean POWs were sent to South Korea. The South Korean government subsequently accused Ukraine of violating a confidentiality agreement.
"The repatriation of North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea is a highly sensitive issue with significant implications for diplomacy, national security and the situation on the Korean Peninsula," Lee wrote on X on Thursday. "We believed it was appropriate in every respect to keep it confidential and that was what we agreed to do."
The conflicting accounts have also fueled political criticism of Lee at home. The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) has accused the government of keeping the repatriation under wraps to avoid provoking Pyongyang.
"The government is begging (North Korea) for a sham peace and capitulating in the face of all manner of provocations," PPP floor leader Rep. Jeong Jeom-sig said in a statement.
The two North Korean soldiers, deployed to Russia as part of North Korea's military support for Moscow, were captured by Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk region in 2025. Their capture became public after Zelenskyy released images of the prisoners. The two later expressed hopes to go to South Korea.