South Korea summoned Ukraine’s ambassador to Ministry of Foreign Affairs following Zelenskyy’s statement regarding prisoners of war from North Korea
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea summoned Andrii Veshkin, Ukraine’s acting ambassador in Seoul, after Kyiv announced the handover of two North Korean prisoners of war.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported by the Yonhap news agency, citing a statement from the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Details
"On Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Andrii Veshkin, Ukraine’s acting ambassador to South Korea, after Kyiv announced the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to Seoul. First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Yun-ju informed Veshkin of Seoul’s firm stance on this issue", the ministry said in a statement.
It is reported that Park expressed "deep concern" over Ukraine’s rejection of the confidentiality agreement with South Korea, noting that "such actions seriously undermine mutual trust and have a negative impact on the friendly relations between the two countries", according to the country’s Foreign Ministry.
Seoul called on Ukraine to provide an official explanation and apologise for its action, to which the Ukrainian ambassador replied that he would certainly report Seoul’s position to Kyiv.
What led up to it?
- During his address to the UN General Assembly, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine had recently handed over to South Korea two North Korean prisoners of war who had been captured on the battlefield.
- In December 2025, two North Korean soldiers, who had been taken prisoner by Ukrainian defenders during combat operations, wrote a letter asking to be allowed to travel to South Korea. On 11 January 2025, it emerged that Ukrainian forces had captured two North Korean soldiers in the Kursk Oblast of the Russian Federation.
- Subsequently, South Korea accused Zelenskyy of revealing a secret operation to transfer prisoners of war from North Korea.
- The President’s Office subsequently denied that Ukraine had agreed with South Korea not to disclose information regarding the handover of North Korean prisoners of war.
- Despite this, Seoul has stated that it is demanding an apology.
