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South Korean President Lee Jae Myung warned Friday that Seoul could take “further measures” against Ukraine unless Kyiv acknowledges what South Korea says was a confidentiality agreement over the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war and issues a public apology.
“If Ukraine continues to refuse to acknowledge the facts and publicly apologise, we will take further measures,” Lee said on the U.S. social media platform X.
“This is a matter concerning the dignity of the Republic of Korea and its people and cannot be overlooked,” he added.
Tensions between Seoul and Kyiv escalated after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disclosed during his address to the U.N. General Assembly last week that Ukraine had transferred two captured North Korean soldiers to South Korea.
Zelenskyy said the soldiers were “not easy to capture alive.”
The two soldiers were captured in Russia's Kursk region in early 2025 after being deployed to support Russian forces against Ukrainian troops.
South Korea says the transfer was supposed to remain confidential to protect the soldiers and their relatives in North Korea. Seoul says Ukraine had initially requested secrecy over the matter before later disclosing the transfer.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry summoned the Ukrainian ambassador Monday to express concern over Kyiv's denial that a confidentiality agreement existed and demanded an apology.
Lee also expressed “serious regret” over Ukrainian remarks concerning the possibility of an imminent military conflict between North and South Korea.
“In response to a demand to acknowledge the agreement and apologize, it has instead mentioned the possibility of an imminent inter-Korean military conflict,” Lee said, accusing Ukraine of attempting to bring “war on the Korean Peninsula,” according to Yonhap News Agency.
Lee also accused Kyiv of making him appear to be a “liar” by denying that a confidentiality agreement existed.
An unnamed senior South Korean government official told reporters Friday that Seoul and Kyiv had agreed to a confidentiality clause covering the transfer.
The official said the two countries' foreign ministers were discussing “how Kyiv should respond to South Korea's demand for an apology over the disclosure of the transfer.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described the dispute in an interview published Thursday by RBC-Ukraine and other Ukrainian outlets as a “diplomatic misunderstanding.”
“I would not like to call it an incident,” Sybiha said.
“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,” he added.
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