South Korea demanded an apology from Ukraine over the report on the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war

According to South Korean presidential senior secretary for public relations Song Gi-hon, Seoul discussed this issue with Kyiv more than once and warned that information about the transfer should not be disclosed. He claims that Ukraine insisted on secrecy.

Song Gi-hon said the Ukrainian side feared a negative public reaction, since these prisoners were not exchanged for Ukrainian fighters. According to him, South Korea agreed not to disclose the information, based on diplomatic and humanitarian considerations, including for the safety of the prisoners themselves and their families.

On September 23, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a speech to the UN General Assembly that Kyiv had handed Seoul two North Korean prisoners of war. Zelensky's adviser Dmytro Lytvyn, in a comment on a post by Oksana Torop, the media adviser to Ukraine's ambassador to the United Kingdom, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said there had been no non-disclosure agreement between the countries.

Lytvyn added that hiding where the prisoners of war had gone would have been wrong. Reuters reported that the South Korean administration stands by its statement and links what happened to risks for relations with Kyiv.

Sources

• Novaya Gazeta Europe