South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has warned Ukraine over the unilateral public disclosure of the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war. President Lee warned that unspecified bilateral measures will follow if Kyiv fails to comply with these demands.
The diplomatic escalation follows an announcement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky regarding the handover of the two prisoners, who were arrested by Ukraine last January in the border region with Kursk in Russia. According to Seong Ghi Hong, senior secretaris voor public relations van de Zuid-Koreaanse president, the two countries had agreed to keep the transfer secret due to safety, diplomatic, and humanitarian considerations, including the security of the prisoners and their families. Seoul stated that Ukraine had previously requested secrecy to avoid domestic criticism for missing a chance to trade the soldiers for Ukrainian captives.
Zelensky UN Speech Damages Trust Between Governments
The public disclosure in the speech of president Zelensky for the Algemene Vergadering van de VN has damaged trust between the two governments. Lee stated in a post on X that the situation raakt de eer van de Koreaanse bevolking en hun land
and cannot be allowed to pass. Seoul’s presidential bureau criticized both the publication and subsequent statements denying the existence of a confidentiality agreement.
The transfer and subsequent fallout touch on sensitive domestic and geopolitical dynamics in South Korea, which maintains a ban on direct military support to conflict parties under Korean law while indirectly supplying large amounts of weapons and ammunition via Poland and providing hundreds of millions in non-lethal aid annually.
Unresolved Questions
It remains unclear why the dispute escalated so sharply over a transfer that experts note was already anticipated when the soldiers gave international interviews. Analysts point to potential factors including President Lee’s declining domestic approval ratings and his political alignment aimed at reducing military tensions with North Korea.
The exact nature of the threatened measures by Seoul has not been specified, and the Oekraïense ambassade in Seoul heeft nog niet gereageerd op verzoeken om commentaar.