South Korea is recalling embassy staff from Ukraine amid a dispute over North Korean prisoners of war
South Korea will withdraw another group of its embassy staff from Ukraine. Officials in Seoul attributed this to Kyiv’s lack of a constructive response to the dispute over the handover of two captured North Korean soldiers, as well as the ongoing threat of Russian strikes on Ukrainian territory.
The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the decision on Tuesday, October 20. This came several weeks after Seoul recalled its ambassador to Ukraine.
South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Park Do-soon noted that the ambassador’s recall did not elicit a positive response from the Ukrainian authorities.
Another reason for reducing the diplomatic presence was the security situation. According to the spokesperson, the constant threat of Russian strikes makes it difficult to ensure the safety of embassy staff.
The conflict erupted following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address to the UN General Assembly on September 23. At that time, he announced that Ukraine had recently handed over to South Korea two North Korean soldiers who had been taken prisoner.
Seoul claimed that Kyiv had violated an agreement not to disclose information regarding the handover of the prisoners. The Ukrainian side denies that such an agreement ever existed.
Thus, South Korea’s decision to reduce the number of embassy staff is linked both to diplomatic disagreements over the North Korean prisoners and to security risks for personnel in Ukraine.
This was reported by Reuters.
Prior to this, South Korea’s ambassador to Ukraine, Park Ki-chan, was ordered to return to his home country. The decision was made by the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Ukraine is ready to resume constructive dialogue with South Korea following Seoul’s decision to recall its ambassador from Kyiv. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that diplomatic relations are more important than emotional reactions, so Ukraine remains open to further contacts.
