South Korea has summoned Ukraine's acting ambassador aft President Volodymyr Zelensky past week announced his authorities had transferred 2 captured North Korean soldiers to Seoul.
Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo lodged a ceremonial ailment with Andrii Vieshkin and expressed "strong regret" that Zelensky had revealed the transfer, which Seoul says was expected to beryllium a secret.
The 2 North Koreans, who were among thousands of soldiers supporting Russia successful the Ukraine war, had earlier told section media they wanted to beryllium sent to South Korea.
President Lee Jae Myung called the disclosure "greatly disappointing" and said the transportation was a "highly delicate issue" impacting nationalist security.
Ukraine's overseas ministry declined to remark erstwhile approached by the BBC.
In aboriginal 2025, Ukraine said its forces had captured 2 North Korean soldiers arsenic prisoners of warfare successful Russia's Kursk Oblast.
After much than a twelvemonth of negotiations betwixt Seoul and Kyiv, Zelensky announced they had been transferred to South Korea astatine the UN General Assembly past Wednesday - adding they had not been "easy to seizure alive".
Seoul confirmed the quality but sharply criticised Zelensky for allegedly breaking an statement to support the transportation a secret.
This was partially to support the North Koreans' families, President Lee's bureau said successful a statement, which added that Kyiv besides wanted the transportation kept concealed to debar disapproval that it had fixed up an accidental to speech the soldiers for Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Lee's bureau explained Ukraine had indicated the soldiers would beryllium mentioned successful Zelensky's address, but not the information of their transfer.
The spat escalated erstwhile Zelensky's bureau responded claiming that the 2 countries did not person a non-disclosure agreement.
Seoul demanded Ukraine apologise for "announcing a falsehood" and said its actions had earnestly damaged spot betwixt the 2 nations.
Lee faced dense disapproval astatine location aft Zelensky's disclosure. The South Korean absorption accused him of covering up the transportation to appease Pyongyang.
Lee, whose enactment takes a conciliatory attack to the North, has been making efforts to reopen bid talks, with small success.
Seoul has been sympathetic to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion, but has refused to interruption from its longstanding argumentation of not providing lethal weapons to immoderate state engaged successful progressive war.
After North Korean troops were deployed to enactment Russia successful 2024, Kyiv stepped up unit connected South Korea to proviso cutting-edge anti-air missiles to assistance support Ukraine's vigor infrastructure from Russian drone and rocket attacks.
"When North Korea actively participates successful a warfare successful Europe, South Korea cannot stay a distant observer," said Mykhailo Podolyak, a elder advisor to Zelensky.
"The transportation of defence technologies and capabilities from Seoul to Kyiv is not conscionable astir helping Ukraine; it is astir South Korea protecting its ain semipermanent information interests by containing the enlargement of an assertive totalitarian axis."
This July, Seoul announced a $100 cardinal assistance bundle to Ukraine. Lee's bureau said it would beryllium an enlargement of earlier assistance which was comprised of non-lethal items including helmets, idiosyncratic armour and aesculapian equipment.
Meanwhile Russia's overseas ministry has warned it would person "no prime but to retaliate" if South Korea provided Ukraine with arms, without specifying enactment it mightiness take.
South Korea has agelong pursued cordial ties with countries opposed to the US.
Since the illness of the Soviet Union, it has worked to deepen commercialized and diplomatic relations with Russia, which borders North Korea, and views some Moscow and Beijing arsenic cardinal partners successful efforts to power Pyongyang.
Additional reporting by Anastasiia Levchenko
English (US)·