Seoul says written proof of NK POW secrecy deal exists
President Lee Jae Myung delivers a speech during a ceremony for the 30th Senior Citizens Day in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap
Lee warns of 'additional measures' if Ukraine refuses to apologize
South Korea says it has written documents proving that Seoul and Kyiv agreed to keep the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war (POWs) secret, as President Lee Jae Myung warned Friday that Seoul will take "additional measures" if Ukraine refuses to apologize for disclosing the transfer.
The remarks are expected to deepen diplomatic standoff between the two countries after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the transfer during his U.N. General Assembly address on Sept. 23. Kyiv has denied any confidentiality agreement existed, while Seoul insists one was clearly in place and that Ukraine broke it.
A senior foreign ministry official laid out Seoul's account of events in detail on Friday.
"It is clear that the two countries agreed to keep the transfer secret," the official told reporters. "The Ukrainian side notified the South Korean side that Zelenskyy would make a speech at the U.N. General Assembly, without specifying its content. The South Korean side responded by text, saying it wanted Zelenskyy not to breach the agreement between the two nations on keeping the transfer secret — which Ukraine subsequently broke."
The official added that negotiations on the POW transfer had been underway since the previous South Korean administration, with nondisclosure as a prerequisite from the outset.
"There is no plan on disclosure because we had to take into consideration the POWs and their families. Considering the cases of other North Korean defectors, we wanted to keep the case secret from beginning to end," the official said.
A South Korean diplomat said that written records of the agreement with Kyiv exist, though they cannot be made public.
"Whenever talking to counterparts, we document the discussions from the beginning. The South Korean government officials, including President Lee and Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, make official comments based on the documents with Kyiv. However, diplomatic documents cannot be disclosed in principle," the diplomat told The Korea Times.
The official added that the two foreign ministers are in direct text communication and that Seoul and Kyiv are discussing the wording of a potential Ukrainian statement, including an apology, though no agreement has been reached on its scope.
North Korean prisoners of war captured by Ukraine in the Kursk region / Captured from President Zelenskyy's X (formerly Twitter) account
Earlier on Friday, Lee expressed strong regret over Ukraine's disclosure, urging it to apologize. Otherwise, Lee said, South Korea would take additional measures.
“We agreed to keep the transfer secret upon Ukraine's request, but Kyiv unilaterally disclosed it. I expressed regret as courteously as possible, but Kyiv publicly made the president a liar by denying the agreement," Lee wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
He added that Ukraine's suggestion of an impending inter-Korean clash was a stance that "seemingly seeks to provoke war on the Korean Peninsula."
"If Ukraine keeps refusing to admit the agreement and apologize, we will take additional measures. I cannot overlook the situation because it is a matter of the dignity of South Korean citizens and their country," Lee wrote.
Ukraine's foreign minister sought to de-escalate, describing the row as a "diplomatic misunderstanding" rather than an incident.
"I very much want this situation to be resolved in the short term, and we are working on it. South Korea is an important country for us," Andrii Sybiha was quoted as saying by RBC-Ukraine, expressing hope for continued cooperation.