South Korea Warns Ukraine of Retaliation Over POW Disclosure Dispute
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung demanded a public apology from Ukraine on October 2, 2026, threatening further diplomatic measures if Kyiv continues to deny the existence of a confidential agreement regarding the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war. The diplomatic rift intensified after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly revealed the POW transfer during a United Nations General Assembly address, breaking terms that Seoul insists were meant to remain secret.
The dispute exposes a sharp fracture between two nations navigating the fallout of North Korean troop deployments in Europe. While South Korea argues that Kyiv’s unilateral disclosure breached an explicit confidentiality pact and endangered regional security, Ukrainian officials have dismissed the uproar as a mere “diplomatic misunderstanding” and pointed instead to escalating military dangers along the inter-Korean border.
Unilateral POW Disclosure Breaches Seoul Agreement
The diplomatic crisis began on September 23, 2026, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced during his U.N. General Assembly speech that two North Korean soldiers captured in Russia’s Kursk region had been sent to South Korea, according to reports by donga.com and turkiyetoday.com.
President Lee Jae-myung responded on September 24 by calling the disclosure “deeply regrettable,” explaining that both governments had agreed to keep the transfer confidential to protect the soldiers and their relatives in North Korea, koreaherald.com reported.
Kyiv countered that no such agreement ever existed. Dmytro Lytvyn, communications adviser to the Ukrainian president, rejected Seoul’s claims on September 25, stating that the denial of a confidentiality clause was accurate, koreaherald.com reported.
President Lee escalated his rhetoric on October 2 through social media platform X, accusing Ukraine of turning him into a “liar” and demanding a public apology. “If Ukraine continues to refuse to acknowledge the facts and publicly apologize, we will take further measures,” Lee wrote, as cited by donga.com.
Seoul Considers Unprecedented Ambassador Recall
The South Korean government is weighing severe retaliatory steps against Kyiv. According to donga.com, the Presidential Office is actively considering recalling South Korean Ambassador to Ukraine Park Ki-chang to Seoul as a formal diplomatic protest.
If executed, the recall would mark the first time Seoul has pulled its top envoy from a foreign capital in 18 years. The last such action occurred in July 2008, when Seoul recalled its ambassador to Japan amid a territorial dispute over the Dokdo islets.
Bilateral tensions deepened further on September 28 when South Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo summoned Acting Ukrainian Ambassador Andrii Vieshkin to the Foreign Ministry in Seoul to lodge a formal protest and reiterate demands for an official explanation, koreaherald.com reported.
Domestically, the handling of the dispute has drawn political criticism within South Korea. People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk questioned President Lee’s priorities on Facebook, asking whether a diplomatic disclosure is more serious than North Korean land mines maiming South Korean soldiers, donga.com reported.
Kyiv Defends Actions While Warning of Inter-Korean Conflict
Ukrainian officials have attempted to de-escalate the friction while maintaining their strategic focus on the ongoing war with Russia. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described the dispute in an interview with RBC-Ukraine as a “diplomatic misunderstanding,” adding that he hopes for continued cooperation with Seoul, according to turkiyetoday.com.
However, President Lee sharply criticized subsequent remarks from Kyiv regarding the security situation on the Korean Peninsula. On September 27, Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Ukrainian presidential office, pointed to a recent land mine explosion inside the Demilitarized Zone that injured three South Korean soldiers, warning that it was only a matter of time before a “trigger event” led to uncontrollable military consequences, koreaherald.com reported.
President Lee condemned Budanov’s comments, stating on X that Ukraine spoke of an imminent military clash “as if wishing for the outbreak of war on the Korean Peninsula,” according to koreaherald.com. A South Korean presidential official echoed this frustration, accusing Kyiv of weaponizing the Demilitarized Zone blast to manufacture tension, donga.com reported.