South Korea Says Ukraine Broke Its Trust by Revealing North Korean POW Transfer

South Korea Says Ukraine Broke Its Trust by Revealing North Korean POW Transfer
South Korea and Ukraine are at odds over whether a discreet humanitarian transfer became a diplomatic breach, after Kyiv publicly revealed that two North Korean prisoners of war had been sent to Seoul.

Seoul summoned Ukraine’s acting ambassador on Sept. 28, saying President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s remarks to the U.N. General Assembly violated an understanding to keep the transfer confidential. South Korean officials said Kyiv had “unilaterally revealed the move” despite a “clear agreement” and demanded both an explanation and an apology, warning that the episode had “seriously” damaged bilateral trust.

Ukraine, however, has rejected Seoul’s account. Zelenskyy said the prisoners had been sent to South Korea after being captured in Russia’s Kursk region, where they were fighting alongside Russian forces. A Ukrainian presidential adviser subsequently said there had been no non-disclosure agreement. South Korea’s foreign ministry maintains that the two sides had agreed to handle the transfer confidentially, though it has not said whether that understanding was put in writing.

The dispute is therefore less about the men’s destination than about competing versions of diplomatic responsibility. Seoul says secrecy was necessary to protect the prisoners and their families and to avoid political complications, including criticism that Kyiv had given up a potential exchange for Ukrainian captives. Kyiv’s public disclosure presented the transfer instead as evidence of support for the prisoners’ stated wish to go south.

The case also carries wider strategic weight. North Korea has not publicly commented, and analysts say Pyongyang would be unlikely to acknowledge that soldiers sent to fight for Moscow survived, rejected repatriation and chose South Korea. In Seoul, the controversy has already encouraged calls to reconsider support for Ukraine, exposing the limits of South Korea’s cautious alignment with Kyiv while it seeks both security cooperation and improved relations with Pyongyang.