South Korea summons Ukraine envoy as North Korean POW transfer sparks diplomatic row

South Korea’s foreign ministry summoned Ukraine’s acting ambassador on Monday in a bid to protest against Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s unilateral disclosure of the transfer of North Korean POW to South Korea.

In a recent development, the ministry called in acting ambassador Andrii Vieshkin and expressed strong regret that Zelenskyy did not maintain the confidentiality of the matter as per the agreement between two countries.

"First Vice Minister Park Yoon-joo stressed that the disclosure of a ​falsehood that there was no confidential agreement seriously undermines trust between the ​two governments and is an action that can cause problems for friendly ties," the ministry’s statement said.

Seoul also protested against a false statement made by the Ukrainian presidential office which denied the existence of such confidentiality-based agreement while urging Kyiv to take effective measures to “prevent recurrence.”

According to Vieshkin, he carefully noted Seoul’s position and would accurately report it to his government.

The move comes after Seoul's presidential office demanded an official explanation and apology from Ukraine on this matter.

The row stemmed from Zelenskyy’s act of publicly revealing the transfer during his UN General Assembly address, which South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s administration stated violated a mutual nondisclosure agreement.

Seong Ghi-hong, senior presidential secretary for public ​relations, said in a statement released on Sunday, “The presidential office expresses strong regret over Ukraine's unilateral disclosure and ​its subsequent false announcement that there had not been a non-disclosure agreement.”

Two North Korean soldiers were captured on the Russia-Ukraine battlefield in early 2025 after being deployed to support Moscow and they expressed a desire to resettle in South Korea.

Regarding official apology, Kyiv has not yet issued any statement.