South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in Seoul, South Korea, on June 8, 2026. Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Ukraine’s acting ambassador to the country on Monday to convey Seoul’s displeasure over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s revelation that two North Korean prisoners of war had been transferred to South Korea.
South Korean First Vice Minister Park Yun-ju told acting Ukrainian Ambassador Andriy Beshkin that despite a clear agreement to keep the repatriation confidential, Kyiv unilaterally revealed the move during Zelenskyy’s speech to the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) last week, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.
The ministry further expressed strong regret over the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office’s denial of the existence of the private agreement and has demanded an official explanation and apology from Kyiv, saying such actions seriously undermine trust between the two governments.
The Epoch Times contacted the South Korean and Ukrainian foreign ministries for comment but did not receive responses before publication.
Zelenskyy revealed that the North Korean prisoners had been transferred to South Korea during his address to the UNGA on Sept. 23.
“Recently, we sent two North Korean prisoners of war to the Republic of Korea,” Zelenskyy said in his address to the United Nations.
“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.”
Since then, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and his office have alleged that Ukraine breached a nondisclosure agreement between Seoul and Kyiv, designed to keep the transfer secret and protect the soldiers from potential repercussions.
Lee said in an X post the day after Zelenskyy’s remarks to the U.N. 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 added 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,” adding that he didn’t “know what circumstances the Ukrainian side may have had in disclosing this in violation of the confidentiality agreement, but it is deeply regrettable.”
In a later statement from the South Korean presidential office on Sept. 27, senior presidential secretary for public relations Seong Ghi-hong also expressed “strong regret” over Zelenskyy’s disclosure of the repatriation and the subsequent denial of any confidentiality agreement, according to Yonhap.
Seong said the Ukrainian government had asked for confidentiality, as the revelation could spark domestic criticism over Kyiv giving up the chance to exchange the North Korean prisoners for Ukrainian prisoners held by Russia.
Seoul agreed to keep the repatriation confidential due to security, diplomatic, and humanitarian concerns, including the safety of the prisoners and their families still in the north, he added.
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.
