South Korea has received a message from Ukraine apologizing for leaking information about North Korean military personnel in Seoul. However, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun says the apology fell short of their expectations.
Yonhap writes about this.
"The messages I received [from Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha] contained an apology. However, this is different from the level we expect, so we intend to take decisive measures," the South Korean Foreign Minister said.
He added that the government is currently considering various options — perhaps the country will recall its ambassador to Ukraine Park Hee Chan. According to Cho Hyun, Zelensky spoke about the transfer of prisoners of war at the UN meeting to show that Ukraine acted in this situation as a liberal democracy.
What preceded
The dispute between the two countries arose after Zelensky, during a speech at the UN General Assembly on September 23, said that two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces during fighting had been handed over to South Korea.
Seoul claims that Ukraine violated an agreement not to disclose information about the prisoner transfer. Kyiv denies the existence of such an agreement. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha called the situation a “diplomatic misunderstanding” and said that Ukraine wants to resolve the dispute as soon as possible.
Two North Korean servicemen were captured by Ukrainian fighters in the Russian Kursk region in 2025. In July 2026, Seoul and Kyiv agreed to hand them over to South Korea.
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