Kyiv and Seoul are trying to resolve a dispute over North Korean prisoners of war
Ukraine hopes to resolve the dispute with South Korea in the near future, which arose after reports surfaced that two prisoners of war from North Korea had been handed over to Seoul. Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga called the situation a diplomatic misunderstanding and stated that he communicates personally with his South Korean counterpart on a daily basis.
Andriy Sibiga says that Kyiv is interested in resolving the situation with Seoul as quickly as possible. According to him, South Korea remains an important partner for Ukraine, and the parties continue to communicate through diplomatic channels. “I wouldn’t want to call this an incident. Let’s just say it’s a diplomatic misunderstanding,” Sibiga noted during a conversation with journalists.
The minister added that over the past few days, he has been in daily personal contact with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun. Sybiga declined to comment specifically on the summoning of Andriy Veshkin, Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires in Seoul, to the South Korean Foreign Ministry. “I very much hope that this situation will be resolved in the short term, and we are working on it. South Korea is an important country for us. And I very much hope for momentum, continuity, and concrete results that we are truly achieving with them,” said the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.
The dispute between Kyiv and Seoul arose following President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address to the UN General Assembly on September 23. He stated that Ukraine had handed over to South Korea two prisoners of war from North Korea whom Ukrainian troops had captured during fighting in Russia’s Kursk region in January 2025. Both prisoners had previously expressed a desire to go to South Korea.
Following Zelenskyy’s statement, Seoul expressed dissatisfaction. The South Korean side stated that there had been an agreement between the countries not to disclose information about the transfer of the prisoners. On September 28, the South Korean Foreign Ministry summoned Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires and demanded an official explanation and an apology. The Ukrainian side, in turn, denied that any non-disclosure agreement existed. In other words, Kyiv and Seoul interpret differently exactly what was agreed upon during the negotiations regarding the transfer of the two prisoners of war.
At the same time, on September 30, South Korean intelligence stated that it was Ukraine that had requested, at the start of the negotiations, that the handover of the prisoners be kept secret. According to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, both sides understood from the outset that the information was to remain confidential. Seoul also reported that the two North Korean soldiers had arrived in South Korea as early as mid-September.
Despite this dispute, Ukraine and South Korea maintain broader bilateral relations. As early as September 23, Sibiga met with Cho Hyun in New York. At that time, the parties discussed support for Ukraine, humanitarian and financial aid, cooperation on reconstruction, as well as military-technical cooperation between Russia and North Korea. Kyiv now wants to prevent the dispute over the prisoners of war from affecting future relations between the two countries. Seoul has also confirmed that diplomatic contacts are ongoing. On October 1, a spokesperson for the South Korean Foreign Ministry stated that the country’s position had already been conveyed to Ukraine, and Kyiv, according to him, is reviewing it. This was stated by Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga during a conversation with journalists.
Spain, Belgium, and Poland have already begun supplying Ukraine with 20-mm ammunition. This ammunition is needed, in particular, for the F-16 fighter jets that Ukraine is using against Russian jet drones.
