Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
A quietly arranged transfer has erupted into a public dispute.
South Korea’s presidential office has demanded an official explanation and apology from Ukraine, accusing Kyiv of breaking a confidentiality agreement over the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to Seoul.
The rupture is the sharpest open rift between the two governments since North Korea joined the war on Russia’s side.
The dispute began during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address to the UN General Assembly on September 23.
“Recently, we sent two North Korean prisoners of war to the Republic of Korea,” he told delegates, adding that the soldiers were “not easy to capture alive” and that one had tried to kill himself when he realized he was going to be taken.
South Korea had never publicly confirmed the transfer, citing the safety of the men and their relatives still inside North Korea.
Seoul says a deal was in place
In a statement released on Sunday, senior presidential secretary for public relations Seong Ghi-hong said 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.”
He said the denial had “seriously damaged trust between the two governments.”
According to Seong, the two governments had repeatedly discussed the transfer through various channels, and Seoul had agreed to keep it quiet for security, diplomatic and humanitarian reasons.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung posted on X hours after the UN speech that “it was appropriate in every aspect not to disclose” the transfer.
In a later post, Lee said he did not know what led Ukraine to disclose the matter “despite the confidentiality agreement,” calling it “deeply regrettable.”
Kyiv denies there was any deal
Dmytro Lytvyn, communications adviser to Zelenskyy, rejected the idea that any confidentiality agreement existed.
He argued that Ukraine is an “open country” and that handing over soldiers in secret would have been inappropriate.
Lytvyn added that “we reported only the fact itself, that they were sent to the Republic of Korea,” describing the underlying case as long and detailed.
What is behind the transfer
The two North Korean soldiers were captured by Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region in January 2025.
They were the first North Korean troops taken alive since Pyongyang began deploying units to support Moscow’s war effort in 2024.
Seong said Seoul was “considering additional measures that may be necessary” over the affair.
