South Korea expresses serious concern over Uzbekistan’s unilateral announcement of transfer of North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea

Ukrainian President Zelensky attended the United Nations General Assembly on the 23rd and stated that Ukraine had sent two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea. (AFP file photo)

South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Andrii Vieshkin, charge d'affaires of the Ukrainian Embassy in South Korea, on the 28th to express serious concern over the Ukrainian government's unilateral announcement that North Korean prisoners of war had been transferred to South Korea and its claim that "South Korea and Ukraine have never reached a confidentiality agreement."

Yonhap News Agency reported that Park Yoon-joo, the first official (deputy minister) of South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, summoned Vishkin behind closed doors on the 28th and emphasized that Ukraine's statement that "there is no confidentiality agreement between South Korea and Ukraine" was false information. South Korea expressed strong regret for this.

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Park Yunzhu also pointed out that the release of false information by Ukraine has seriously damaged mutual trust between the two governments and also damaged bilateral friendly relations. He urged the Ukrainian government to formally clarify and apologize, and at the same time take measures to prevent similar situations from happening again.

South Korea's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae recently asked Ukraine to formally clarify and apologize, and said it was considering taking further necessary measures on the matter. Under this circumstance, the South Korean government again made representations with deputy ministerial-level officials on the 28th, and the relevant statements were highly consistent with the Blue House's position paper, showing that the South Korean government attaches great importance to the incident.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended the United Nations General Assembly in New York on the 23rd and stated that Ukraine had sent two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung later posted on social media that it was regrettable that Ukraine violated the confidentiality agreement previously reached by both parties.

However, a source in the Ukrainian presidential office later retorted that the two sides had not reached a confidentiality agreement, leaving South Korea and Ukraine to insist on their own opinions.