{"id":1445612,"date":"2026-09-29T09:33:57","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T06:33:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/?p=1445612"},"modified":"2026-09-29T09:33:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T06:33:57","slug":"conflict-over-dprk-prisoners-seoul-summons-ukrainian-diplomat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/conflict-over-dprk-prisoners-seoul-summons-ukrainian-diplomat\/","title":{"rendered":"Conflict over DPRK prisoners: Seoul summons Ukrainian diplomat"},"content":{"rendered":"

A dispute has arisen between Ukraine and South Korea over a public announcement about the transfer to Seoul of two North Korean servicemen who were in Ukrainian captivity. On September 28, the South Korean Foreign Ministry summoned Ukraine’s acting ambassador, Andriy Veshkin.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is reported by<\/a> Yonhap, citing a statement from the country’s Foreign Ministry.<\/p>\n

Seoul’s position was conveyed to the Ukrainian diplomat by First Deputy Foreign Minister Park Yun-ju. He stated that the disclosure of the information harmed the trust between the countries and their friendly relations.<\/p>\n

The South Korean side was particularly outraged by Kyiv’s denial of a non-disclosure agreement. Seoul insists that such an agreement existed and demands explanations and apologies from the Ukrainian side.<\/p>\n

Veshkin said he would convey South Korea’s position to the Ukrainian leadership.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Kyiv does not agree with Seoul’s version. Presidential Communications Advisor Dmytro Lytvyn stated<\/a> that Ukraine did not undertake to conceal information about the fate of the prisoners.<\/p>\n

“There was no such agreement, it’s not true. And it would be wrong to hide where certain prisoners are going,” he wrote.<\/p>\n

Lee Jae-myeon has also previously stated that the confidentiality agreement was necessary primarily for the safety of the military themselves. His office emphasizes that after the public disclosure of the information, prisoners and their relatives in the DPRK may be in danger. Seoul also justifies its position with international law and humanitarian principles.<\/p>\n

Volodymyr Zelensky announced on September 23 during his speech at the UN General Assembly in New York that two North Korean soldiers had been handed over to South Korea. Ukrainian military captured them in Kursk in January 2025.<\/p>\n

According to Zelensky, one of the North Korean soldiers tried to commit suicide after realizing that he would be captured.<\/p>\n

Both prisoners of war wrote letters in December 2025 requesting permission to move to South Korea. According to the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, North Korean citizens are considered its citizens, so Seoul must accept them if they so desire.<\/p>\n

In particular, the South Korean government did not confirm the arrival of the North Korean military, citing concerns for their safety and the safety of their family members remaining in North Korea.<\/p>\n

Earlier, South Korean President Lee Jae-myeon said that Ukraine had violated an agreement with Seoul not to disclose information about the transfer of two prisoners of war from the DPRK.<\/a> He expressed regret that this had become public knowledge.<\/p>\n

We also recall that South Korea is demanding an official explanation and apology from Ukraine for disclosing information about the transfer of two North Korean military prisoners to Seoul.<\/a> The country’s presidential office said that the situation has damaged trust between the two governments.<\/p>\n

Also follow \u201cPryamim\u201d<\/strong> on Facebook<\/a> , X<\/a> , Telegram<\/a> , and Instagram<\/a> .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A dispute has arisen between Ukraine and South Korea over a public announcement about the transfer to Seoul of two North Korean servicemen who were in Ukrainian captivity. On September 28, the South Korean Foreign Ministry summoned Ukraine’s acting ambassador, Andriy Veshkin. This is reported by Yonhap, citing a statement from the country’s Foreign Ministry. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":1445607,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[76885,76871,76872,76875],"class_list":["post-1445612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-policy","category-news-2","category-news-feed","category-other-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1445612"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1445613,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445612\/revisions\/1445613"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1445607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1445612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1445612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}