South Korea to recall its ambassador to Ukraine over North Korean POW dispute

The South Korean announcement on Thursday came days after its President Lee Jae Myung threatened unspecified punitive steps if Ukraine refuses to apologize over the revelation. Seoul said Kyiv's public disclosure of the repatriation of two North Korean prisoners endangered their families in North Korea, where relatives of those who fall into enemy hands face punishment. Ukraine has rejected South Korea's accusations.

South Korea has said it will recall its ambassador to Ukraine, the latest escalation in a diplomatic spat between both countries. It started last month when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that his government had transferred two captured North Korean soldiers to Seoul. Seoul says Ukraine broke an agreement to keep the transfer a secret but Zelensky’s office maintains that there was no non-disclosure agreement in place.

The two North Korean soldiers, who were among thousands from the country supporting Russia in the Ukraine war, had earlier told local media they wanted to be sent to South Korea. South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo had in September lodged a formal complaint with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Vieshkin over the matter. And earlier this week, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said he received an apology from his Ukrainian counterpart, but added that it fell short of Seoul’s expectations, according to local reports.

But on Wednesday, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi told reporters at a media briefing that its Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha had not apologised, according to Ukrainian news site Liga. In a statement on Thursday, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said it would “continue consultations with the Ukrainian side”, adding that it expected that “various outstanding issues…[would] be resolved smoothly”. Zelensky had revealed the transfer at a speech at the UN General Assembly in September, adding that the two North Koreans had not been “easy to capture alive”.

It prompted a swift condemnation from South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who called it “greatly disappointing” and said the transfer was a “highly sensitive issue” impacting national security. President Lee also faced heavy criticism at home in light of the revelation, with local opposition accusing him of wanting to cover up the transfer to appease Pyongyang. But his office said that it had been kept confidential partly to protect the North Koreans’ families and added that Kyiv also wanted the transfer kept secret to avoid criticism that it had given up an opportunity to exchange the soldiers for Ukrainian prisoners of war.

Lee’s office explained Ukraine had indicated the soldiers would be mentioned in Zelensky’s address, but not the fact of their transfer. The spat escalated when Zelensky’s office responded claiming that the two countries… South Korea has said it will recall its ambassador to Ukraine.