South Korea summons Ukrainian ambassador over Zelenskyʼs disclosure of information about DPRK prisoners

The South Korean Foreign Ministry summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to express a protest over the disclosure of information about the transfer of prisoners from the DPRK to Seoul. They are demanding official explanations and apologies.

Reuters writes about this.

The Foreign Ministry said it had summoned Ukraineʼs acting ambassador, Andriy Veshkin, and expressed "deep regret" that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had made the information public at the UN General Assembly, despite what Seoul says was a clear agreement between the two countries to keep the matter secret.

South Korea also protested the statement by the Office of the President that there was no agreement between the countries. Seoul called the statement false and called on Kyiv to take measures to prevent a similar incident from happening again.

Earlier, a representative of the Office of the President of South Korea reported that Ukraine had warned Seoul in advance about Zelenskyʼs intention to mention the prisoners in his speech at the UN General Assembly.

• In 2025, the Armed Forces of Ukraine captured two North Korean servicemen in the Kursk region. In July 2026, Seoul and Kyiv agreed to hand them over to South Korea.
• President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke about this in his speech at the UN General Assembly on September 23.

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