Seoul threatens "measures" over Kyiv's refusal to apologize
Seoul will take "further measures" if Ukraine refuses to publicly acknowledge the existence of a confidentiality agreement concerning information about the transfer of two captured North Korean soldiers to South Korea and fails to apologize, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung said.
Lee did not specify what these "measures" would be.
"If acknowledgment of the facts and a public apology continue to be refused, we will take further measures. This is a matter of the honor of the Korean people and the state, which we cannot ignore," the South Korean leader wrote on the social network X, while at the same time accusing Kyiv of making Seoul out to be a "liar."
In the context of South Korea's domestic politics, Seoul's approach to the diplomatic conflict with Ukraine "may prove problematic," given the current administration's restrained position toward its northern neighbor, which possesses nuclear weapons, Myongji University political science professor Shin Yul told AFP
Ukraine is interested in resolving the diplomatic dispute that has arisen with South Korea as soon as possible and in further cooperation with Seoul, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said while speaking with journalists in Kyiv a few hours before President Lee Jae-myung's post. "I would not want to call this an incident. Let's say it is a diplomatic misunderstanding," the foreign minister was quoted as saying by the RBC-Ukraine agency.
According to Sybiha, in recent days he has been in personal contact daily with his counterpart from South Korea. "I very much want this situation to be resolved in the near term, and we are working on that. For us, South Korea is an important country. And I very much hope for momentum, continuation and concrete results, which we are indeed achieving with them," the Ukrainian minister emphasized.
At the end of September, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at the UN General Assembly that Kyiv had handed over two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea. After that, Seoul sharply criticized Kyiv. The disclosure of such information could endanger the prisoners' relatives who are in the DPRK, and could also negatively affect relations between Seoul and Pyongyang, President Lee Jae-myung said earlier. First Vice Minister Park Yoon-joo added that Kyiv's denial of the agreement undermines mutual trust, and demanded official explanations and an apology from Ukraine.
For his part, the Ukrainian president's communications adviser Dmytro Lytvyn said there had been no agreement between Kyiv and Seoul that information about the fate of the prisoners of war was not subject to disclosure. The South Korean president's administration expressed "deep regret" over these statements.
On September 28, the South Korean agency Yonhap reported that South Korea's Foreign Ministry had summoned Ukraine's ambassador over Kyiv's disclosure of information about the North Korean prisoners of war. On September 30, AFP reported, citing South Korean lawmaker Yun Kun-young, that both prisoners of war had arrived in the country in mid-September. After questioning and a security service review, the authorities in Seoul will decide on granting them protection and beginning the resettlement process.
Until now, South Korea has supplied Ukraine mainly with non-lethal military equipment, including for demining. However, some Western countries have recently been insisting that Seoul also carry out supplies of lethal weapons to Ukraine, the Reuters agency notes.
Last week, Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media that, according to his information, there are currently about 8,000 North Korean troops in Russia and another 10,000 are preparing to be sent to the Russian Federation, and from there to the war against Ukraine.
Source: DW
