South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Friday that Seoul will take “additional measures” if Ukraine continues to refuse a public apology for disclosing the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war and then denying that the governments had agreed to keep the move secret.
The warning from Seoul is the sharpest statement yet from the presidential office in a dispute that opened when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 23 that Ukraine had recently sent two captured North Korean soldiers to South Korea.
In an Oct. 2 post on X, Lee claimed that Ukraine had demanded confidentiality on the repatriation and that both sides agreed to it, only for Kyiv to reveal the transfer.
“Regarding the repatriation of North Korean prisoners of war, the Ukrainian side demanded confidentiality and agreed to it, but unilaterally disclosed it,” said Lee.
He said that when he “expressed regret with the utmost courtesy” to Ukraine over its breach of the agreement, “they claimed there was no agreement, making the head of state of the other country out to be a liar.”
He added that after Seoul demanded acknowledgment of the agreement and an apology, the Ukrainian side instead spoke of an imminent military clash between North and South, “praying for the outbreak of war on the Korean Peninsula.”
“If you continue to refuse to acknowledge the facts and issue a public apology, we will take additional measures,” Lee said.
“As this is a matter concerning the honor of the Republic of Korea’s people and nation, we cannot overlook it.”
On the same day, a senior official via the Korea Times said South Korea has written documents proving that Seoul and Kyiv agreed to keep the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war secret.
“It is clear that the two countries agreed to keep the transfer secret,” the official told said.
“The Ukrainian side notified the South Korean side that Zelenskyy would make a speech at the U.N. General Assembly, without specifying its content.
“The South Korean side responded by text, saying it wanted Zelenskyy not to breach the agreement between the two nations on keeping the transfer secret—which Ukraine subsequently broke.”
The Epoch Times has not been able to independently verify this claim and has contacted the South Korean Embassy in Kyiv and Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry for comment.
Lee also noted in his X post that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told news site RBC Ukraine on Thursday that the episode was a “diplomatic misunderstanding.”
“I very much want this situation to be resolved in the short term, and we are working on it. South Korea is an important country for us. And I very much hope for momentum, continued cooperation, and concrete results that we are indeed achieving with them,” Sybiha said.
Sybiha said he wanted to avoid the word “incident” to describe the situation.
Ukraine captured the two North Koreans in Russia’s Kursk region in January 2025, with Zelenskyy at the time describing the pair as the first North Korean soldiers to be captured alive since Pyongyang sent troops to fight alongside Moscow’s forces.
“Recently, we sent two North Korean prisoners of war to the Republic of Korea,” Zelenskyy said in his address to the United Nations, referring to South Korea.
“These guys are not easy to capture alive. One of them, when he realized he was going to be taken prisoner, tried to kill himself. And he was shocked that fate didn’t let him die.
“This is how they raise people in the North. It’s reality. They take away their freedom. They take away their right to choose. And they drill into them that they must die, no matter what.”
Lee said in an X post the day after Zelenskyy’s remarks to the United Nations that “state affairs should be conducted for the country and the people, not for the interests or popularity of the government or those in power.”
“Of course there were internal arguments for disclosing the fact that the North Korean prisoners had been brought to South Korea, since it would clearly have helped recover the government’s approval ratings,” Lee said.
But he noted that “considering the various problems that disclosure would create, keeping it confidential was appropriate in every respect, and that is what was agreed.”
He labeled the revelation about the prisoners’ transfer “cruel and irresponsible,” saying that he did not “know what circumstances the Ukrainian side may have had in disclosing this in violation of the confidentiality agreement, but it is deeply regrettable.”
Guy Birchall contributed to this report.
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