South Korea demanded an apology and explanation after Zelenskyy said at the U.N. last week that Ukraine had transferred two North Korean POWs to Seoul. Seoul says the disclosure breached a nondisclosure deal; Kyiv denies the deal existed.
Zelenskyy said the men were captured on a Ukraine-Russia battlefield in early 2025. Presidential adviser Seong Ghi-hong said Sunday that Seoul and Kyiv had agreed to keep the transfer confidential because Seoul worried about the soldiers’ and their relatives’ safety in North Korea and unspecified diplomatic and security issues. He said Kyiv feared domestic criticism for giving up a possible exchange for Ukrainian soldiers held in Russia.
While in Ukraine, the two soldiers said in media interviews that they wanted to resettle in South Korea. Seoul had urged Kyiv not to return them to North Korea, where they could face persecution. South Korea’s government also feared the news could trigger an angry North Korean response and harm efforts to resume diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington.
