Seoul warns of "additional measures" if Ukraine refuses to apologize over the prisoners' issue

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South Korean President Lee Jae-myung warned Friday that Seoul will take "additional measures" if Ukraine refuses to publicly apologize for what he described as a unilateral revelation that Kiev sent North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea.

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

On Monday, the South Korean Foreign Ministry summoned the Ukrainian charge d'affaires in Seoul, against the backdrop of a dispute over the transfer of North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea.

The ministry accused Kyiv of violating an agreement to keep the transfer secret.

South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Park Yeon-joo said that Ukraine's earlier assertion that there was no such agreement "seriously undermines trust between the governments of the two countries" and could harm relations between them.

Park called on the Ukrainian government to provide an official clarification and apology.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed, during his speech before the United Nations General Assembly in New York last Wednesday, that Ukraine had transferred two North Korean soldiers to South Korea.

Ukrainian forces detained the two captives in January 2025 in the Russian border region of Kursk.

They reportedly expressed their desire to resettle in South Korea, whose government had pressured Kiev to facilitate their transfer.