South Korea’s Lee Threatens “Additional Measures” Against Ukraine Over POW Transfer Row

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Friday threatened unspecified “additional measures” against Ukraine unless Kyiv acknowledges a confidentiality agreement covering the transfer of two North Korean soldiers and issues a public apology, according to Reuters.

“If the refusal to acknowledge the facts and issue a public apology continues, we will take additional measures,” Lee wrote in a post on X.

Lee also expressed “grave regret” over what he described as Ukrainian remarks about an imminent military clash between North and South Korea, saying they amounted to encouraging war on the Korean Peninsula.

Seoul and Kyiv have been locked in a diplomatic dispute since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced at the United Nations General Assembly last month that Ukraine had transferred two North Korean prisoners of war, captured while fighting for Russia, to South Korea. Seoul says Kyiv broke an agreement to keep the transfer secret to protect the soldiers, while Ukrainian officials insist no such agreement existed.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha tried to calm the row on Thursday, telling journalists it was a “diplomatic misunderstanding” rather than an incident, according to Ukrainian media reports cited by Reuters.

The escalation comes at a delicate time for Seoul, which has been working to lower tensions with Pyongyang and is dealing with the political fallout from a recent landmine blast in the Demilitarized Zone.

Cho Han-bum, a senior fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told Reuters that any retaliation would most likely target South Korea’s humanitarian, financial and reconstruction assistance to Ukraine. Seoul has backed Kyiv since Russia’s 2022 invasion and pledged another $100 million in non-lethal support in July.

Sources

• Reuters — South Korea’s Lee threatens action against Ukraine over transfer of North Korean soldiers
• Yonhap via Reuters — South Korea voices regret over Ukraine denial of pact on North Korean POWs