South Korean President Lee Jae-myung said on Friday that Seoul would take "further measures" if Ukraine refuses to publicly apologise over what he called its unilateral disclosure of North Korean POWs being sent to South Korea. Seoul has taken a hard stance on Ukraine disclosing the transfer of two soldiers captured fighting for Russia, warning that their families could be targeted by Pyongyang. North Korea is known to retaliate against defectors and their families.
Both POWs are identifiable as they had been photographed by South Korean media before their arrival to the South. The POWs were captured by Ukrainian forces early last year after being deployed alongside thousands of North Korean troops to support Russia's war against Ukraine, in exchange for economic and military assistance to Pyongyang. Hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disclosed last week the transfer in remarks at the United Nations, Lee expressed his dismay, with Seoul claiming confidentiality was key to protecting the POWs' relatives.
Seoul later demanded an official apology from Ukraine, saying that both sides had reached a "clear understanding" during consultations to keep the transfer confidential. "If Ukraine continues to refuse to acknowledge the facts and publicly apologise, we will take further measures," the South Korean president said on Friday, accusing Kyiv of making him out to be a "liar." "This is a matter concerning the dignity of the Republic of Korea and its people and cannot be overlooked," Lee posted on X. Analysts say that from South Korea's perspective, keeping the transfer of the POWs confidential may have partly been for Ukraine's sake, as making it public could have complicated Kyiv's own prisoner exchanges with Russia.
In domestic South Korean politics, however, Seoul's approach "could prove problematic," Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University, said given the current administration's dovish approach to the nuclear-armed North. "The government has acted swiftly in this case involving Ukraine, while exercising extreme caution over the North Korean landmine incident (that injured South Korean soldiers). That contrast could leave the public deeply dissatisfied." Lee referred on Friday to an interview with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha published by RBC-Ukraine and other Ukrainian outlets on Thursday.
Sybiha said he would "not like to call it an incident," describing it instead as a "diplomatic misunderstanding." "South Korea is an important country for us. And I very much hope for momentum, continued cooperation, and concrete results that we are indeed achieving with them," he said. Seoul's spy agency said that Zelenskyy may have disclosed the transfer of the North Korean soldiers to boost public support in South Korea for Seoul providing arms to Ukraine, a lawmaker said on Wednesday.
South Korea has in recent years emerged as a major arms exporter, particularly since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, including through a multibillion-dollar arms deal with Poland. But it has refrained from supplying Kyiv with lethal weapons, citing its longstanding policy of not arming countries engaged in active conflicts.
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