Ambassador to Ukraine returns home... Conflict likely to continue over 'North Korean prisoners revealed'

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Ji-heon = Ambassador to Ukraine Park Ki-chang returned to Korea on the morning of the 10th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.

The government decided on the 8th to summon Ambassador Park after Ukraine disclosed the repatriation of North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea and claimed that there was no agreement to keep it confidential.

Government authorities believe that even if Ukraine's breach of the non-disclosure agreement was a mistake, its subsequent attitude continued to worsen the situation, making recalling the ambassador inevitable.

It has been 19 years since the government recalled the ambassador to Japan in 2008 that a foreign ambassador was recalled in protest.

The government's position is that it will "continue consultations with the Ukrainian side" even after the ambassador's recall, but the diplomatic conflict between the two sides is expected to continue for the time being.