South Korea Recalls Its Ambassador to Ukraine Amid a Scandal Over Statements About Russia

South Korean Ambassador to Ukraine Park Ki-chan has been ordered to return to his home country. The decision was made by the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The ministry noted that it hopes for a proper resolution of all issues that have arisen in relations between Ukraine and South Korea.

“The government hopes that all issues between the two countries will be properly resolved, and to this end, we will continue consultations with the Ukrainian side,” the South Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Thus, Park Ki-chan is expected to return to South Korea amid ongoing consultations between the two countries. The South Korean Foreign Ministry emphasized the continuation of dialogue with the Ukrainian side.

This was reported by the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to Chosun.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga did not apologize to South Korea over the diplomatic dispute, but merely expressed regret that the situation had escalated to an exchange of public critical statements.

Prior to this, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun stated that South Korea had received an apology from Ukraine regarding the disclosure of information about the transfer of two prisoners of war from North Korea, but that this apology was made without due respect. 

Ukraine intends to resolve the dispute with South Korea in the near future, a dispute that arose following the disclosure of information regarding the transfer of two prisoners of war from North Korea to Seoul.

South Korea responded to Ukraine’s statements regarding the supply of petroleum products to Russian companies from South Korean ports. Seoul stated that the Ukrainian side had drawn conclusions without sufficiently verifying all the circumstances of the relevant operations.