Speaking at the UN General Assembly on September 23, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sparked a diplomatic dust-up with South Korea. In his speech, Zelenskyy mentioned that Ukraine had recently "sent two North Korean prisoners of war to the Republic of Korea" — men who had been captured by Ukrainian forces during fighting in Russia's Kursk region in January 2025. Both had expressed a wish to resettle in South Korea, he said.
The reaction from Seoul was swift: South Korea's Foreign Ministry summoned Ukraine's ambassador to Seoul, Andrii Vieshkin, and demanded an explanation for what it described as Kyiv's "unilateral disclosure" of the prisoners' transfer, despite a prior agreement to keep the matter confidential, along with an official apology. Responding to Zelenskyy's speech, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said the transfer of North Korean prisoners of war was a sensitive topic with wide-ranging consequences for diplomacy and national security on the Korean Peninsula. Dmytro Lytvyn, Zelenskyy's spokesperson, wrote on Facebook that no such confidentiality agreement existed between the two countries, adding that it was wrong to keep secret where such prisoners were being transferred.
Soon after, South Korean presidential spokesperson Kim Sung-wan called Lytvyn's denials false, according to news agency . Kim said Ukraine had asked for confidentiality — allegedly over concerns there might be criticism at home if the North Korean prisoners weren't swapped for Ukrainian prisoners being held in Russia. Seoul had agreed to the secrecy for diplomatic reasons, he added, but also to protect the prisoners and their families who were still living in North Korea.
Nataliya Butyrska, an Asia-Pacific expert at the New Europe Center in Kyiv, told DW that Ukraine and South Korea lacked a continuous, trust-based dialogue, especially under the current government in Seoul. "We should actually be natural partners — we should be standing shoulder to shoulder, with North Korea fighting against Ukraine," she said. "But that's not the case, due to a lack of trust." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The prisoner transfer has been a hotly debated topic in South Korean media in the last week — not least because, according to South Korea's constitution, North Koreans are considered citizens of South Korea.
It's also been instrumentalized by opposition lawmakers, while President Lee, aiming to ease tensions with the North, has taken a more measured approach. "The prisoners could have been used by Ukraine to improve bilateral relations between Kyiv and Seoul," said Butyrska, adding that no one in South Korea was now thinking of thanking Ukraine for transferring the prisoners. Butyrska pointed out that Russia, which usually doesn't express any interest in foreign prisoners, had actually demanded the return of these two North Koreans.
"There was even a period of six months when the Russians refused to release any Ukrainian prisoners of war," she said. "They were not prepared to undertake any swap, because they wanted the North Koreans." For some observers, the diplomatic crisis can be linked back to domestic conflicts in South Korea. The opposition wants to know why the president agreed to keep the prisoner transfer secret, and have accused Lee of trying to gain favor with the North.
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